Newsletter 20th July 2018

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers, Welcome back to Term 3. A special welcome is extended to

the new families who have joined the Lota State School

community this term.

During the holidays the construction work on the two new

staircases was completed and the new soft fall was poured in

the senior playground. Both of these facility upgrades are

already having a positive impact during their daily use. It was

delightful to be able to share these upgrades with our

member for Lytton, Mrs Joan Pease MP, on Tuesday and to

be able to thank her for her contribution to Lota State School

and its students.

As part of our reporting process, next week, parents of Year 2

to Year 6 students have the opportunity to meet with their

child’s teacher to discuss student progress and goals for

semester 2. Each teacher will have sent home notification of

times available. If you have not received this yet, please

contact your child’s teacher. We want to ensure everyone has

the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher, if desired

(parent teacher interviews for Prep to Year 1 will be held later

in the term).

Next Wednesday, we will be holding our inaugural French

Day. Madame Valerie Le Ray has planned some fun and

interesting activities for our students and has worked with

Kate, our tuckshop convenor, to plan a special tuckshop

menu for the day. It would be wonderful if all students were

able to wear something “French inspired” for the day. This

could be simply something red, white and blue. There is no

cost for the day (unless your child wishes to participate in

tuckshop on the day). As always, your support is greatly

appreciated.

Kind regards, Mrs Susan Hughes Principal

Date Claimers Term 3

Mon 16 July First day of term 3

Tues 17 July NAIDOC celebrations

Tues 24 July Parent/Teacher interviews Year 2 to 6

Wed 25 July French Day – no cost

Wed 25 – Fri 27 Beginners Instrumental Camp $60

Fri 3 Aug Jeans for Genes Day – gold coin donation

Fri 3 Aug Arts Council $6

Wed 15 Aug Show holiday

Tues 21 Aug Book Week Parade

Weekly Timetable

Monday Library

PE – Sport

Environmental Club

Tuesday Library

Innovations Club

Instrumental music

Eisteddfod Team

Wednesday Tuckshop

LOTE (French)

PE – Health

School Banking

Drama Club

Thursday

Uniform Shop 2:30 – 3:30

Playgroup 9:30 – 11:00

Dance Club

Friday Music

Tuckshop

Friday sport

Choir

Upcoming Events

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS – Tuesday 24th July 2018

Parent/teacher interviews will take place in Term 3. The following classes will have interviews on Tuesday 24th July. All other classes (including Mrs Cameron’s Year 1’s) will begin interviews in Week 8.

- Ms Cummings (Year 2) - Ms Jewell (Year 3/4) - Mr MacKenzie (Year 5/6) - Ms Dabelstein (Year 3) - Mrs Seib (Year 4/5) - Mrs Cameron (Year 2, not Year 1)

INAUGURAL FRENCH DAY - Wednesday 25th July 2018

French dress up: Students are invited to dress themselves in French colours and don the ‘blue,

white and red’ French theme to add some colour and atmosphere to our day. French Prize for

the most creative / original dress.

Colour in competition: Students interested have one week to colour in a

French themed picture. A winner from each grade level will receive a prize.

French Activity: Students will play the French game ‘Pétanque’ during their

allocated French lesson time.

French inspired lunch: Students can pre-order a French

lunch for 1st Break. This includes a ham and cheese croissant, a popper and

for dessert, a chocolate croissant. The cost is $6 and orders need to be placed

by Monday 23rd July.

NATIONAL TREE DAY – Friday 27th July 2018

National Tree Day is Australia's largest tree-planting and nature care event. National Tree Day started in 1996 and since then more than 3.8 million people have planted 24 million trees and plants and it's still growing. We will have visitors from Planet Ark speaking with our students after first break on Friday and then our Environmental Club and Eco-Marines will plant the trees donated by Toyota and Bunnings. We thank them for their support.

Events to Celebrate

Rewards Day - Tuesday 26th June

Thank you to Mrs Seib for her organisation of our first rewards day for 2018. Her hard work and the support of staff, parents and members of the PCYC ensured that the day was successful and rewarding.

Performance Parade - Wednesday 27th June

Congratulations to our Performing Arts groups on the talent displayed by all. Our very professional MCs on the morning were our cultural captains, Suzanna H and Isobel R. Our dance team delighted us with two dances. The senior instrumental music students played two pieces of music exceptionally well. Our small choir sang beautifully and looked very cute in their bird headpieces. Congratulations to both our junior and senior students for presenting two wonderful vocal performances. Mrs Cowie was very proud of both groups. Thank you to Mrs Cleary, Mrs Cowie and Mr Rander for their hard work with our students over the semester.

Playgroup – Pirate Day Thursday 28th June

What a brilliant playgroup yesterday to end the term. Miss Beryl and Miss Kate went above and beyond preparing the end of term “Pirate Day” for our littlest Lota children (dressing the part; they make very convincing ‘pirates’). They created all kinds of ‘pirate themed’ games and activities as well as a spectacular pirate ship (you can see a photo below of one of the games that Kate made especially for the day). The children were able to escape to the high seas, play pirate games and hunt for treasure. Thank you also to Rebecca Ikin for volunteering her time and expertise to offer face painting and to Natalie Bragoli for her dance and drama expertise. A huge thank you to them all for their hard work and commitment to playgroup and to Playgroup Queensland for providing free kits for the parents on the day.

Redlands Eisteddfod – Sunday 15th July 2018

Congratulations to our wonderful dance team. It was an absolute delight to see them perform their two dances so beautifully on stage on Sunday. Our teams received two encouragement awards for their performances and should be very proud of their efforts. Without a doubt, our school had the largest team on stage.

Go Lota!

Thank you to the cheer squad from Lota who attended the performance to support our dancers, to Mrs Tanya Cleary, who did an incredible job of choreographing the dances and of course, to our students who did us proud. We look forward to being able to view the disc of the dances in the very near future.

NAIDOC Week – Tuesday 17 July 2018

What an exciting start to term 3! Miss Beryl, Mrs Harding and I would like to extend an enormous THANK YOU to all our wonderful Students and Staff for their valuable contribution to the success of NAIDOC Day 2018. #lotarocks

One of the highlights of this years’ event was definitely the creation of our #lotarocks “giving stones”. What beautiful creations they are!

During the holidays I started promoting #lotarocks through social media. This promotion was then picked up by many of our supportive local businesses and individuals; so much so, that we had to create the #lotarocks facebook page as a point of reference for the local community! When we decided to embark on a project to teach our students the joy of giving we didn’t imagine for a moment that such a simple idea would develop into a movement spreading throughout our local community and beyond. So far we’ve had pledges from many friends and family of Lota State School to take our rocks to Scotland, Yorkshire, Singapore, New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada, Victoria, New South Wales and of course our very own neighbourhood parks and playspaces. Our beautiful gifts will certainly take the message of Lota State School being a community of wonder and greatness across the globe. To follow the progress of our “giving stones” join the #lotarocks page on facebook, post pictures of your rocks as you find and hide them with their location and keep the updates coming as to where they have journeyed.

Stay kind, Lota. Miss Tori

Chaplaincy Dinner 2018

What a lovely evening; the annual Chaplaincy Dinner was attended by over 200 people. The goal of the evening was to raise the additional funds needed to ensure we can maintain two days of chaplaincy in each of our schools. It was wonderful to be able to show our support, while enjoying a lovely dinner, warm conversation and chance to bid on some fabulous items. It would be great for Lota State School to have at least a full table for next year so keep this approximate date in mind for 2019. Thank you to Angela, Zoe, Rebecca and Bronwyn who joined Mrs Hughes and Chappy Edgar for the fundraising evening.

Silver Pin Recipients

Congratulations to the following students who received their first silver pin of 2018 on assembly

before the holidays: Maeve D, Miley H, Ava M, Reagan N, Archie S, Justice L, Jaydah S, Alexia

B, Michelle C, Angelina H, Jorden M, Kiara P, Sophie S, Travis B, Cohan N. And to the following

who received their silver pin on assembly this week: Rily J, Franco B, Jackson N, Logan N, Sienna

B and Lluca M.

What’s your Superpower? Autistic Teens Social Group

For ages 9 and up. $5 for autistic child/teen. Parents and siblings free.

Food for sale. If there is enough interest, we will be having two groups

each Friday: 9 years – 14 years and 15 years and up.

Friday Nights: Waterloo Bay Leisure Centre 7-9pm Email RSVP’s and questions to lauraklewis@bigpond.com.

Social Media SOS for Parents, Tweens and Teens

Before you hit send: a social media SOS for parents + tweens + teens: Few people

understand the highs and lows of social media better than online columnist, podcast host and

author Rebecca Sparrow. Join Rebecca as she walks parents and students through the social

media landscape teaching the audience how to have a more positive experience online. From

finding your tribe and building your emotional resilience to household internet agreements and

privacy settings - Bec will explain how following a few simple rules will increase your child's

chances of having a healthier relationship with their beloved devices and a more positive

experience online. Wynnum Library August 9 6.30-7.30pm. Bookings are essential. Call

Wynnum Library on 3403 2199 for more information.

Bush Neighbours Program 2018

Did you know that Moreton Bay is home to internationally recognised

wetlands and each year receives avian visitors which fly all the way

from Siberia? This is one of the facts our Grade 3/4 students learnt

when they participated in Brisbane City Council’s Bush Neighbours

Programme.

This year Lota was one of only nine schools selected to participate in

the Bush Neighbours Programme which is tailored to grade four

students and aims to create awareness of the importance of local

bushland reserves, waterways, school yards and backyards as

important habitats.

Bush Neighbours is a free, four part programme and our budding Bush

Neighbours were guided through the programme by Catherine and

Mike, two education officers from Brisbane City Council’s Environment Centres.

In session one students learnt how to look for evidence of animals and identify what animals

need to survive. For session two Geckoes Wildlife visited and students got up close and

personal with animals which live in the local area. Curly the Curlew was a favourite. Session

three was spent at Bill Lamond Park where students learnt

about mangroves, marine animals and met Ellie the

Eastern Curlew. Curlews are the largest migratory bird

which visit Moreton Bay each year. Finally, the programme

culminated in a hive of activity as our eco-marines joined

our Bush Neighbours in training to investigate how wildlife

friendly our school grounds are by looking for evidence of

animals and the five things animals need to survive.

Result … well you’ll have to ask our Bush Neighbours and

Eco-Marines.

This is the second year Lota State School has participated in the Bush Neighbours program and

the students loved it. Keep your eye out for the new official Bush Neighbours sign on the front

gate and remember to ask our grade 3/4s about how wildlife friendly our school is.

Walking Wheeling Wednesday – Bling Your Thing

Congratulations to Mrs Cameron’s Year 1/2 Class for winning the Active School Travel award for the last week of term 2 for being the class with highest percentage of students ‘blinging’ their bikes and actively travelling via bicycle on Wednesday. This week our Year 5/6 class took out the trophy with the greatest percentage of students actively travelling this week.

P&C News

Our next P&C Meeting is to be advised.

Our uniform shop is open each Thursday of the

term from 2:30pm – 3:30pm. If you are unable to

visit the shop, uniforms can be ordered online via

Flexischools at www.flexischools.com.au.

It is with much delight that we thank our community for their patronage of our tennis courts. We have been able to raise $429 in the May – June period to put towards our fundraising priorities for 2018.

2018 School Priorities

Successful Learners

Engaged Learners

Quality Teaching

A whole school approach to the teaching of writing

A whole school exploration of STEM and critical thinking skills

A culture of high expectations, positive behaviour and student engagement

Developing a growth mindset in our school community

A deep understanding of the Australian Curriculum

Multiple pathways to reflect on pedagogical practice

School Information

Time Out – protect students from spreading infectious diseases If your child is suffering from a virus, gastroenteritis or another illness, there are rules about when they can return to school. Learn more about symptoms and exclusion rules in Queensland and take your child to the doctor if you are concerned.

Arrival and Departure Procedures Students are to arrive at school after 8:30am for an 8:50am start time. If you arrive after 8:50am, please go to the office to get your late slip. If you are picking your child up early for an appointment, please advise the office. You will need to collect a departure slip from the office before collecting your child. School concludes at 3pm.

Uniform Formal school uniform is to be worn on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sports uniforms are worn Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Fully enclosed black shoes are to be worn at all times.

Visitors & Volunteers All visitors, including parents, who visit/volunteer within the school, need to sign in at the school office and read the new Mandatory Training Key Messages Guide for Volunteers. Thank you for your assistance in completing this yearly requirement.

Please note when reporting your child as absent please phone the school office on 3906 6222

or alternatively email admin@lotass.eq.edu.au. If you know your child will be absent for more

than 10 school days you will need to complete an “Application for Exemption”. These forms are

available from the school office.