Newsletter No. 12 - 26 July 2023

From the Principal

Dear Parents/Carers

Parking around school- please be reminded that parking around the school is extremely limited. The only long term parking available is at Gladys Street-under the busway. Entry to the school is via-the footbridge. There is no parking available in Cowley or Martin Street. Parking in these areas endangers children’s safety. Thank you for your continued cooperation. Please contact the council on 3403 8888 to report any illegal parking.

Masterplan for Buranda State School

The Department of Education project planning team presented the masterplan for Buranda State School to the P&C general meeting on 7 June 2023.

A copy of the slides presented is available at this link.

The Department later provided clarification regarding funding and key detail below:

• The plan is subject to the Ministerial Designation process and so the final master plan will be subject to any terms and conditions that may arise through the Ministerial Designation process.
• The community will need to understand that whilst the master plan is extensive and includes a staged  development, it is only stage 1 that is currently funded.
• Further stages will be subject to in-catchment demographics and funding availability

Congratulations to student Ethan T. Ethan  is selected to play a duet at  City Hall for Australia Duo Festival 1-Aug-23.

Have a great week

Simon Vaseo

Finance News

Student Resource Scheme

Buranda State School will be emailing all parents Student Resource Scheme forms next week. 

Buranda State School operates a Student Resource Scheme for all year levels.  This offers parents a convenient and cost-effective way to provide resource for their students through reduced prices from bulk purchasing.  The scheme DOES NOT INCLUDE the costs of personal stationery or off-campus activities such as sport, excursions, camps, etc.

The student resource scheme is voluntary.  Most families choose to join because of its convenience and the financial benefits of participation.   The charges detailed below are the costs to parents for each year level in 2023.  The Student Resource Scheme is a yearly charge and may differ from year to year.

Resource Requirement lists can be found here Buranda State School 2023 SRS Resource Lists.

Students have been issued with resources for 2023.  Students leaving the scheme during the year may be entitled to a pro-rata refund of fees paid, but only after fees have been paid in full.

Invoices will be raised for payment of your student fees, only when forms have been returned. Payment of the 2023 Student Resource Scheme invoice is payable and due in the year it was invoiced.  Education Queensland’s preferred payment method is BPOINT. 

Families who do not wish to participate in the SRS (Student Resource Scheme) can opt out by returning the signed participation form indicating their preference.  Parents who opt out of the scheme will be responsible for purchasing resources from the resource lists.  Levies may be charged and invoiced to cover supplied resources such as printing reference materials or materials where instruction is extended through providing practical learning.

If you have any queries about the Student Resource Scheme, please email Doreen Holland at bsm@burandass.eq.edu.au. 

From Inclusion

Becoming Allies – Part 4

Children who are neurodiverse often don’t ‘generalise’ information between people and places.

Generalisation, to put it simply, is a child’s ability to transfer skills and knowledge learned in one context to other settings, people, and activities.

An example of an inability to generalise is given by the Child Development Institute:

They may have learned skills in one environment where it was taught (e.g., saying “hi” to mum at home), however cannot complete the activity in a different environment (e.g., saying “hi” to a therapist at the centre).

For a child to demonstrate successful generalisation, they must be able to show progress in many settings such as home, school, park, etc., and they must be able to demonstrate progress with multiple people, such as a parent, grandparents, babysitter, or teacher.

Generalisation for neurodiverse children doesn’t occur automatically. It needs to be practiced continually for it to take hold and have meaning to the child. It is important that neurodiverse children are able to use these skills when needed, in any situation or environment.

So, what has this got to do with ‘Becoming Allies’? I hear you ask.

Sometimes neurodiverse people can come across as being off-hand, a know-it-all, or downright rude. They may overlook answering a question out aloud when they have already answered it in their head. They may correct you about something, or question you if you are wrong, or something doesn’t make sense. Or, they may use mannerisms or a tone of voice that isn’t appropriate for a situation they find themselves in.

Often, our initial response to these sorts of behaviours, particularly when they are demonstrated by children, is annoyance and anger. “Why are you looking at me that way?” “Don’t you dare speak over me and wave your hands in that manner!” “Look at me when I am talking to you.” “How dare you question me!” “I’ve just spoken to you!”

As allies, we can support neurodiverse children by firstly being understanding, and then by explaining or teaching them what neurotypical people see as acceptable behaviour.

An example of this could be:

“When I speak to you, a great way to show me you’ve heard what I’ve said is to give me an answer. That could be as simple as “Yes Mrs Austin” or “OK”. When you don’t answer me, it can seem extremely rude. Shall we try that again?”

OR

“I know you’re feeling a little anxious at the moment. If you take a step back and let me finish what I’m saying, I may answer your question. If not, I will talk to you straight away to find out what it is you want to say.”

Generalisation is a crucial factor in a child’s developmental success and fosters independence across all areas. If we can help all our young children generalise skills to a multitude of settings these skills are more likely to be maintained and generalised to new settings in the future.

The anxiety felt when a neurodiverse child realises someone is angry at them for appearing rude or disrespectful, can be overwhelming, and can impact the confidence and ease of their future interactions. It is important that we recognise that neurodiverse people do not mean to be rude in their everyday interactions. They are just trying to navigate the situations they find themselves in safely…..

…..and we need to help them.

Katherine Austin

Inclusion Teacher

From the Music Room

This term I will be doing a spotlight on different year levels in each newsletter, to give you a little insight into what goes on in the music room, starting with the 1/2 classes.

In 1/2S and 1/2B we have been busy learning about ostinati. An ostinato is a pattern that repeats throughout a song, you can hear them in pop music all the time! If you were a fly on the wall in our music room you could see us doing a body percussion ostinato, clapping a rhythmic ostinato, singing a pitch ostinato or playing a rhythmic ostinato drone on pitched percussion while we sing different songs.

We have also been practicing singing and signing using solfa. Solfa is a powerful tool not only for learning to sing but to lay the foundations for reading and writing music and developing a good ear for understanding pitch relationships. We start with soh and mi in Prep and add new notes each year all the way until Year 6 when we complete the scale (Yes, just think “The Sound of Music”).

In these pictures you can see 1/2S singing and signing “soh”, and 1/2B singing a song while Harrison Conlan plays a rhythmic ostinato drone on glockenspiel.

Ms Tafra

Classroom Music Teacher

My New Gallery

Book week

This year we will be celebrating Book Week on Thursday 31 August by participating in Elsie’s Book Club. This is a charity founded by Ms Warhurst in honour of her daughter, Elsie, who passed away last year at only seven days old. This August would have been Elsie’s first birthday and marks one year of Ms Warhurst living without her.

Students and staff are invited to bring in a picture book to donate to Elsie’s Book Club and to “dress up for Elsie”, dressing as their favourite character from a book. Staff members or students who do not feel comfortable dressing up are invited to wear pink to school on this day instead to show their support.

How to Donate a Book

1. Choose a picture book that your child loved as a baby or let them choose a book they think would be good for Elsie’s Book Club.

2. Purchase a new copy of this book from a bookstore (NB: As these books are donated to Neonatal Intensive Care Units it’s essential that they are newly purchased books to limit the spread of germs)

3. Wrap the book or keep it in a plastic bag to protect it from picking up any extra germs on its way to hospital.

4. Bring the book to school on Thursday 31 August and place it in the box at the bottom of the music room stairs in its bag/wrapping.

5. Your book will be delivered to an Australian Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for parents of premature or unwell babies to read to their child while they are in hospital, supporting their connection at a time when they may not be able to hold them.

You can read more about Elsie’s Book Club here.

How to Dress Up for Book Week

1. Think about this year’s Book Week theme, “Read, Grow, Inspire” and choose a book you think works well with this theme.

2. Get creative and put together a costume to dress up as a character from the book. You could buy a costume or make a costume. Op shops are great for piecing things together!

3. On Thursday 31 August, come to school dressed as your Book Week character.

4. At 8.45am join the school in front of the flag posts for a Book Week photo in your costume.

From the Community