8 August 2025

DATES TO REMEMBER

PRINCIPAL NEWS

As we reflect on the first semester, I am pleased to share the tremendous progress our students have made in engagement, attendance, and academic achievement. Our school community has demonstrated resilience, commitment, and a shared vision for student success. Thank you for being active partners in this journey.

Student Engagement: Fostering a Vibrant Learning Community

Student engagement remains central to our educational mission. This semester, our students have shown genuine enthusiasm for learning through their active participation in classroom discussions, extracurricular programs, clubs, sports, and the arts.

Our Student Council and other student-led groups have played a vital role in strengthening school spirit and peer collaboration. Their initiatives continue to nurture leadership, teamwork, creativity, and a strong sense of community across all year levels.

Attendance: The Foundation for Learning

Regular attendance is key to student learning and wellbeing. I’m pleased to report a notable improvement in attendance rates this semester. Being present each day allows students to make the most of learning opportunities and maintain consistent progress.

We extend our thanks to families for prioritising attendance and reinforcing its importance at home. To celebrate this success, students with outstanding attendance will be recognised at our upcoming assembly. Their commitment sets a powerful example for others.

Academic Achievement: Celebrating Student Success

Academic excellence remains a cornerstone of our school vision. This semester, we have witnessed exceptional achievement across year levels and learning areas. Our dedicated teachers continue to provide high-quality, evidence-based instruction, and our students have responded with focus and determination.

We are proud to acknowledge the following Semester 1 Academic Award recipients:

• Bronze Achievement: 226 students
• Silver Achievement: 126 students
• Gold Achievement: 30 students

These results reflect our school’s high expectations and the hard work of our students. You can view the full Academic Achievement criteria on our website:

Academic Criteria – Grand Avenue SS

Looking Ahead: Building on Our Success

As we begin Semester 2, we remain focused on fostering a supportive, inclusive, and high-performing learning environment. Our priorities continue to be student engagement, academic growth, and consistent attendance.

We thank our parents and carers for your continued partnership and support. Together, we are creating the best possible outcomes for every student.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher or myself if you have any questions or would like to discuss your child’s progress. We are here to support you.

The Science of Reading: A National Focus

Over the past few years, the national approach to reading instruction has been reviewed and realigned to reflect the Simple View of Reading, a model grounded in cognitive science. This approach emphasises both decoding skills and language comprehension to ensure all students receive effective, evidence-based reading instruction.

The Department of Education is now implementing this updated approach across Queensland schools. At Grand Avenue, our staff are actively engaging in professional development to strengthen their knowledge and instructional practices in line with the latest research.

More information for parents and carers will be shared soon.

“Being able to read and write is profoundly transformative, both for individuals and for population-health and wellbeing more widely.”

— Snow, P. (2021), The Science of Language and Reading

Upcoming Events – Term 3 Highlights

Week 5
📅 11–15 August: Bullying NO WAY Week & Science Week
📅 Wednesday 13 August: Brisbane Show Holiday & Grand Avenue EKKA Community Event
📅 Tuesday 19 August: P&C Meeting – 6:00pm

Week 6
📅 18–22 August: Book Week
📅 Friday 22 August: Book Week Dress-Up Day – Come as your favourite book character!

Week 8
📅 1–3 September: P&C Father’s Day Stall
📅 Thursday 4 September: Prep–Year 3 Athletics Day
  – Year 2–3: 9:00am
  – Prep–Year 1: 11:45am
📅 Friday 5 September: Student Free Day

Week 9
📅 Tuesday 9 September: Parent–Teacher Interviews
📅 Thursday 11 September: R U OK? Day
📅 Tuesday 16 September: P&C Meeting – 6:00pm & 2026 Prep Information Session

Week 10
📅 Friday 19 September: Final Day of Term

Let’s continue working together to ensure this school year is a rewarding and memorable one for all students. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Until next time,

JUNIOR YEARS NEWS

Principal’s Day

Last Friday, 1^st of August we celebrated and thanked our incredible leader, Mrs Jones, here at Grand Avenue State School! On behalf of the staff, students, and wider school community, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Mrs Jones for her continued passion for education and tireless efforts to ensure that our school remains a place of growth, support, and excellence. Whether it’s guiding strategic planning, supporting students and families, or mentoring staff, our Principal’s role is multi-faceted and plays an integral role in our school.

We’re so lucky to have a Principal who leads with warmth, vision and a whole lot of smiles!

Until next time,

School Support Staff Recognition Week

This week, 4 – 8 August our school took the opportunity to express our gratitude to the incredible support staff who play a vital role in making our school a success. 

Our school support staff, often working behind the scenes, are truly the backbone of our school. They ensure that everything runs smoothly, contributing to a welcoming environment for students and staff alike. Whether it’s balancing the books, providing IT support, or essential administrative support, their efforts are integral to our school community.

It is important to recognise and appreciate the invaluable contributions these individuals make every day. We are so grateful for their hard work and commitment to our wonderful school. 

Every Day Counts

Did you know that we love seeing your children at school every day? Missing school means missing out on learning- which can often make it difficult to catch up.  Being at school every day leads to some great benefits such as;

• Learners are more likely to stay on track and progress academically
• More opportunities to take part in social and emotional activities in their classroom
• Develop habits of ‘showing up’ at school, in sport and other areas of life
• More likely to have stronger social and peer connections

As the school year progresses, I would also like to emphasise the importance of being on time for learning. School begins promptly at 8:45am, and arriving on time sets the tone for a successful day for our learners. Punctuality at the beginning of the day is essential to maximise learning time, establish routines and reducing disruptions.

If you are having difficulty getting your child to school, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for support.

SENIOR YEARS NEWS

Rebecca Sparrow – Your Go-To Friendship Guru for Kids

I’ve been subscribing to Rebecca Sparrow’s weekly articles for a while now, and I can honestly say her advice is a game-changer. As a parent, it’s not always easy to know how to guide your child through the ups and downs of friendship, the drama, the misunderstandings, the shifting social circles. That’s where Rebecca comes in. She’s a friendship guru who truly gets it. With warmth, humour, and practical strategies, she helps parents (like us!) support our kids in building strong, kind, and resilient friendships. If you’ve ever felt unsure about how to help your child through a tricky social moment, you’ll love what she has to share. Below is a recent article about friendships in the older years, in particular during that transition to high school.

A whopping 76% of Year 7 friendships dissolve within that first 12 months of high school!  They don't even last the year!

In other words it's really normal for our kids to experience ups and downs when they're trying to find their tribe in primary school and high school. It's a bit of trial and error as they try to work out who they are, which kids share their same interests and values and where they belong.

That's all well and good, of course. But living through your child's friendship dramas can be BRUTAL for them and for us.

‼️ When our kids struggle to connect with peers
‼️ When they seem to seek out friends who are part of the 'bad' crowd
‼️ When they insist on hanging with 'friends' who CLEARLY treat them badly (excluding them, embarrassing them and mocking them)

But here's the thing. Friendship is a skill which needs to be TAUGHT. Just like tying your shoes or riding a bike or learning to read.

We're not born innately understanding what a great friendship looks and feels like. It takes time to learn what it takes to be a great friend to someone and what is required to grow and nurture a friendship.

And without sounding dramatic this stuff is crucial. The single biggest driver of our happiness as human beings is friendship. Our ability to nurture and sustain positive connections with family and friends does more for our wellbeing than our job title, our income or the size of the house we live in.

So what are my top six RED FLAGS in friendship?

1. They're not consistent. You turn up to school and sometimes this person is super friendly to you and other times they give you the cold shoulder and ignore you completely.  You're left wondering where you stand ...

2. There are a lot of rules. Who you can talk to. Where you can sit. What your opinion is meant to be (We all hate this teacher/ hate that girl / love Stranger Things/NRL/sushi and if you don't agree - you're not one of us).  Most of all this person doesn't want you to be friendly with everyone at school - instead you're only allowed to be friends with the right (read: cool) people.

3. There's a pattern of bad behaviour. Everyone screws up in friendships but look for patterns. If they have routinely humiliated you, betrayed you, excluded you -- that's a big red flag that things aren't likely to change anytime son.

4. You have to choose between being loyal to the group/that friend and being loyal to your own values. Here's a tip: if you don't like who you are when you're with your friends - RED FLAG!

5. They don't show up for you. When you get cast as the lead in the school play. When you miss out on a leadership badge. When your dog is really sick at the vet. Friendship is about showing up for people in the good times, in the bad times and in the boring blah times.  It's not about big performative posts on Instagram - instead it's about being there for each other.

6. They gossip and share other people's personal stories with you. I'm telling you - if they gossip with you, they'll gossip about you. BE WARY!

ACROSS THE DESK OF THE GUIDANCE OFFICER

We’re Excited to Welcome Karen Young to Grand Avenue!

We are thrilled to share that Karen Young will be joining us at Grand Avenue State School in Week 10 on Tuesday, 16th September at 5:30pm for a special parent presentation.

Karen is a highly respected speaker, author, and child and adolescent therapist, best known for her work in the areas of behaviour, big feelings, and self-regulation. Her engaging and insightful presentations empower parents with practical strategies to support their children through emotional challenges and behavioural ups and downs.

This is a fantastic opportunity for families to gain valuable tools and understanding around the emotional development of children. Whether your child is navigating anxiety, frustration, or big emotional moments, Karen’s advice is both compassionate and evidence based.

Grand Avenue is so excited to welcome Karen Young, and we warmly invite all parents and carers to attend this session and be part of this meaningful conversation.

More information will be shared soon — stay tuned!

Life Education Visits Start Next Week!

We are excited to welcome Life Education to Grand Avenue State School starting next week! This engaging program supports students’ understanding of health, wellbeing, and making safe choices through fun and age-appropriate sessions.

Each class will attend a session as outlined in the attached timetable.

Important Reminder:

Please ensure permission notes are returned by Friday 8th August so your child can participate.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Miss Ashleigh Granzin at axgra3@eq.edu.au.

We look forward to a fun and educational experience for all our students!

SOCIAL WORK UPDATE

We are excited to announce we are partnering with MANAWISE to introduce a Pasifika Mentoring Program, starting in Week 6 of this term. 

For many young learners, especially those from diverse cultural backgrounds, having their identity acknowledged and celebrated plays a vital role in their confidence, sense of belonging, and engagement at school. The Pasifika Mentoring Program is designed to provide our Pasifika students with positive role models, cultural connection, and support that reflects their heritage and values.

Research consistently shows that when students feel a strong connection to their culture, they develop a positive sense of self, which in turn improves their confidence and motivation to learn. Our mentoring program will create a safe space where students can explore their cultural identity, share their experiences, and celebrate the richness of their backgrounds.

Through group mentoring sessions, students will build relationships with mentors and peers who understand their cultural experiences. This sense of belonging is key to helping children feel more connected to school life, increasing both their participation and engagement in learning.

We look forward to welcoming the MANAWISE mentors to Grand Avenue. 

Inala State School have also released their Term 3 timetable. As close neighbours, Inala State School extends their invitation to their community hub to our school community as well. Please see below a timetable of the weekly activities and classes they hold on site.

HEAD OF CURRICULUM / LIBRARY NEWS

🌟 Get Ready for Science Week 2025! 🌟

Monday 11 August – Friday 15 August

We are thrilled to announce that Science Week 2025 is just around the corner! This year’s theme, “Innovation: Powering Our Future,” invites students to explore the amazing ways science, technology, and creativity work together to shape the world of tomorrow.

Throughout the week, students will take part in exciting hands-on activities, experiments, and challenges designed to spark curiosity and a love of discovery.

Science Week is a fantastic opportunity to spark curiosity, build problem-solving skills, and celebrate the many ways science shapes our world. We encourage you to talk with your children about what they learn during the week and help nurture their natural curiosity at home.

🔬 Library Lunchtime Science Stations – Try out mini-experiments and STEM challenges.

• Make a paper helicopter
• Build a straw bridge
• Create a mini paper rocket
• Instruction sheets or challenge cards can guide students

Friday in the library come and sensory stamps and sap and pepper experiment

🌱 Guess the famous Scientist and win a prize. Put up photos or clues about famous scientists (e.g., Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, CSIRO scientists).

💡 STEM Scavenger Hunt -There will be a book hunt in the library where students look for books with science-related topics or keywords (e.g., volcano, space, insects, electricity)..

🎲 Borrow a book with a Science title

🧪Complete the Science week quiz and put your name in the draw to win a prize.

Science Week is a fantastic opportunity for students to ask big questions, think creatively, and see how science impacts our daily lives.

Let’s get ready to dive into the wonders of science together!

📚✨ Book Week 2025 – “Reading is Magic!” ✨📚

Monday 18 – Friday 22 August

Dear Families,

We are thrilled to celebrate Book Week 2025 at our school from 16–23 August, with this year’s adventurous theme: “Book and Adventure!” Book Week is a time to celebrate the joy, imagination, and wonder that books bring into our lives.

Throughout the week, students will be immersed in a variety of book-themed activities designed to promote a love of reading and storytelling. Here are just a few magical highlights from the library:

📖 Library Activities During Book Week

🧙‍♂️ Book Character Parade – Friday 23^rd August

Come dressed as your favourite book character! Whether you're a wizard, a hero, a talking animal or something truly adventurous—let your imagination shine!

• Prep to Year 1 – 9:00am to 10:00am
• Year 2 to Year 3 – 10:15am to 11:00am
• Year 4 to Year 6 – 12:00pm

For the parade, all students will be seated in the auditorium.

In your class group, students who are wearing a costume will walk across the stage and around the audience to show off their costume.

🔍 Book Scavenger Hunt

Search the library to find hidden clues, magical items, and book titles related to the “Reading is Magic” theme.

📚Famous author

🎨Teachers reading in the library – Our Leadership team will read stories with the students during playtime everyday this week.

Go on holidays with your own passport

💫 Parents Invited!

Reading with Parents – Friday 22 August, 8:00–8:30 AM

We invite families to join us in the library for a morning of shared reading to wrap up our week. We will meet you in the library at 8:00 so that you can read your favourite book with your child before school and work.

📚 Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge & Library Reading Bingo! 📚

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We’re excited to share two fantastic opportunities to spark a love of reading and build lifelong literacy habits among our students!

🌟 Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge (QPRC)

Our school is proud to be participating in the Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge 2025! This annual initiative encourages students from Prep to Year 9 to experience the joy of reading while building confidence and developing essential literacy skills.

How it works:
Students are encouraged to read a set number of books between now and 22^nd August 2025, and record them on their reading record sheet. Any kind of reading counts—books from home, school, or the library, and even eBooks or audio books!

🎉 Students who complete the challenge will receive a certificate signed by the Premier of Queensland!
Let’s aim for as many students as possible to complete the challenge this year!

Library Reading Bingo Challenge

To add some extra fun to our reading program, we’re also launching the Reading Bingo Challenge in the library!

Students are invited to complete different reading tasks such as:

✔ Read under a tree
✔ Read a book with a blue cover
✔ Read to a family member
✔ Read a non-fiction book

Each time a student completes a square, they tick it off. Once they've completed a row, column or the full board, they can return their Bingo sheet to the library for a small prize—and go into the draw for a major Book Week prize!

📥 Bingo sheets are available in the library.

These two reading challenges are a fun way to promote daily reading, help students explore new genres, and build independence as readers. We encourage families to support their child’s progress and share in the reading journey at home.

Let’s get reading!

Melissa McLennan
HOD-Curriulum (Prep-Yr2)

HOSES NEWS

Reading and Writing Centre

The Department of Education’s Language and Literacy team provides several resources for educators and families to support children’s development of language, reading and writing. The videos available on the link below illustrate how parents and carers can be partners in learning to support children’s early language and reading skills.

Autism Queensland workshops

Autism Queensland provides a range of workshops for families and educators. See below some that may be of interest. To find out more details, please go to their website.

THE RESILIENCE PROJECT - GEM

Celebrating GEM in Action at Grand Avenue

At Grand Avenue, we continue to grow as a resilient, connected community through our whole-school implementation of The Resilience Project (TRP). This term, the focus on Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness (GEM) and Emotional Literacy (EL) has become more visible than ever in our classrooms, conversations, and school culture.

We are excited to announce that our GEM Awards have now officially begun! Each week at assembly, students will be recognised for demonstrating GEM+EL values in their everyday actions. These awards are a celebration of the positive behaviours and attitudes we want to nurture in every learner.

Adding to the excitement, we recently welcomed Bronco’s legends Ali Brigginshaw and Darius Boyd to Grand Avenue as part of our TRP journey. Their visit inspired students with powerful messages about wellbeing, connection, and staying true to who you are. The energy from this special event continues to echo throughout our classrooms.

To keep the celebration going, don’t forget to check out our TRP Facebook posts, where we’ll be highlighting the incredible wellbeing lessons and activities taking place at GASS. These snapshots offer a glimpse into the meaningful work students and teachers are doing to embed GEM values into daily school life.

In classrooms, students have also begun creating GEM community chains—a growing visual display of gratitude and positive actions. Some classes have extended this idea even further by designing chains that celebrate all elements of GEM, making wellbeing a colourful and creative part of the learning environment. It’s been wonderful to see students naturally using gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness in their interactions—with their peers, their teachers, and themselves.

Together, we are building a resilient, caring community—one GEM at a time.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AT GASS

Fostering Respect, Safety & Wellbeing — On and Offline

At Grand Avenue, our commitment to student engagement extends far beyond the classroom. We are continuously building a safe, respectful, and inclusive culture where every student feels a strong sense of belonging — both face-to-face and in the digital space.

Over the next two weeks, our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) focus is centred around the theme of Bully No Way Day, with lessons designed to encourage kindness, personal responsibility, and respectful relationships.

This week, our focus is:

RESPECT EVERYONE – Respect everyone’s privacy, safety and wellbeing online.

Students are exploring how to behave responsibly and kindly in digital spaces — understanding the impact their words and actions can have online, and how to protect their own and others’ privacy and wellbeing.

Next week, we’ll continue with:

RESPECT EVERYONE – Be kind and caring.

This will turn the focus back to our face-to-face interactions and highlight how small acts of kindness can strengthen friendships and make our school a more positive and connected place for everyone.

These lessons align perfectly with our whole-school wellbeing program, The Resilience Project, which teaches Gratitude, Empathy, and Mindfulness (GEM). The values we explore through both PBL and The Resilience Project work hand-in-hand to empower students to manage their emotions, build positive relationships, and thrive as compassionate members of our school community.

YEAR 3 NEWS

Students Explore Space Through Informative Reports

Our students have been embarking on exciting journeys into the universe of space! They have actively engaged in analysing and creating space information reports, focusing on a different planet EVERY WEEK! The children have loved sharing all the facts they know each planet. These reports help them develop critical thinking and comprehension skills.

When writing their reports, students often use compound sentences to connect ideas smoothly and make their writing more engaging. Students have been practising to identify the missing conjunction or “FANBOYS” in the compound sentences. Many students have been enjoying turning sentences from ‘boring’ to ‘brilliant’, ask your child about it today!

Their enthusiasm for space shines through in their reports, and we are proud of their efforts to explore the universe through words.

MUSIC NEWS

Congratulations to the Beginner Strings students who participated in a full day workshop in the Auditorium last week. Students from Durack SS and Forest Lake SS joined us as well, making almost 50 students on stage together. There was lots of fun and after one day of music rehearsals, students have gained valuable knowledge.

Now, we are preparing for the Bandtastic event on 27/28 August and Singfest on 3 September. Consent forms have been sent to the Q Parents app so please contact your Music teacher if you need more details.

Alisen McLeod
Class Music Teacher
Instrumental Music Coordinator

DANCE NEWS

Dance X attended the DanceLife Unite Eisteddfod over the weekend. While this was a smaller competition, it provided a valuable opportunity to receive feedback from leading industry judges. The team had a fantastic time and are excited to perform again this Friday at the QUOTA Beenleigh Eisteddfod.

A reminder for dance families: All of our groups will be performing this Friday, 8th August. Event details have been emailed home. If you require any further information, please contact Mrs Austen.

We can’t wait to see our dancers shine on stage this Friday!

DanceLife Unite Eisteddfod

P&C NEWS

P&C Updates

Our Ekka Fun Day makes its return next week - Wednesday 13 August, 12-6pm! Ahead of the big day, we’d like to share our appreciation for all of the generous sponsors who are making our special event possible, including the Brisbane City Council, Heritage Bank, Margie Nightengale MP, Ramsay Pharmacy Forest Lake, Matt Groves Real Estate, The Hon Milton Dick MP, Councillor Charles Strunk and Pralentine Solutions.

There are plenty of volunteer opportunities still available, including setting up, distributing wristbands, ticket and wristband sales, and packing up - click [HERE] to join our Grand Avenue community in making our Ekka Fun Day a success!

If you missed the Life Education parent information session at our July P&C meeting and would like more information about this program, please reach out to our Guidance Officer Ashleigh Granzin. The following modules will be covered:

Prep - Year 2: Safe Kids, Safe Bodies
Year 3 & 4: Body Safety
Year 5: Welcome to Puberty
Year 6: Thriving in Puberty

Upcoming Events

Ekka Day – 13 August

Next P&C Meeting – Tuesday 19 August at 6:00 PM

Please also save the date for the following P&C meetings on 16 September and 21 October.

Father’s Day Stall – 1-3 September. volunteersignup.org/PY34K

Family Photos – 15 November

Tuckshop & Uniform Shop Reminders

Tuckshop – Flexischools remains our preferred payment method. We have observed an increase in over-the-counter purchases, requiring students to queue before school from 8:30 AM. If you need assistance with Flexischools, please let us know.

Uniform Shop – The uniform shop is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays from 8.15-9.30am. Orders can also be made on Flexischools daily.

Thank You!
We sincerely appreciate the ongoing support of our wonderful parents, carers, and volunteers. Your contributions, whether big or small, help make Grand Avenue a fantastic place for our children.

For any questions, suggestions, or if you’d like to get involved, please contact us at pandc@grandavenuess.eq.edu.au or stay updated via our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gasspandc.

Grand Avenue State School P&C

Jessica Watson
GASS P&C President

OSHC NEWS

It has been a busy and vibrant few weeks at OSHC as we settle into Term 3 and start preparing for our September/ October Vacation Care Program! We’ve been buzzing with creativity and energy with a mix of baking, craft, and movement lighting up our mornings and afternoons.

Every Thursday morning, the centre comes alive with the rhythm of Zumba! The children have loved grooving, stretching, and starting their day with a big dose of fun and fitness. We’re thrilled to present our finished Zumba dance routine at the end of the term.

We also took a moment to celebrate Educator’s Day in July, acknowledging the incredible OSHC team who go above and beyond every day. From building friendships to creating safe, joyful learning environments, our educators are the heart of our service—and it was beautiful to see the kids express their appreciation in thoughtful and creative ways.

We’re now preparing for an exciting Vacation Care ahead, filled with themed days, incursions, and lots of outdoor adventures. Keep an eye out for the program, and booking forms, spots fill quickly!

Regards
OSHC Team

QPARENTS

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