Newsletter 9 29 May 2024

From the Principal

Hi everyone

I hope this message finds you well. As we approach the end of Term 2, our school is in an exceptionally busy phase. Our teachers and students are hard at work with assessments and preparing for reporting, and I want to acknowledge their dedication during this intense period.

In preparation for the end of the semester, we have finalised the schedule for our parent/teacher interviews. This is an important opportunity for you to discuss your child's progress with their teachers. The booking system will open on Monday 3 June, and I encourage you to secure your appointments early to get your preferred times.

This week  is Reconciliation Week from Monday 27 May- National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Last Friday our students participated in an acitivity Now more than Ever- culminating in an installation in Cowley St. The song for Reconciliation Week this year is Blackfella/Whitefella by Warumpi Band- have a listen with your children.

Our Preps and Prep Ones enjoyed a fantastic excursion to the Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre today, exploring the Manly foreshore. Many thanks to our parent volunteers and staff for making this enriching experience possible for our students.

I seek your cooperation in supervising your children after school. Playing on the playground on the oval impacts the Outside School Hours Care service, and there have been instances where students have been unsupervised for extended periods after school. Ensuring the safety of all students is a top priority, and your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

On the facilities front, I am pleased to announce that we expect to have use of the long jump pit and most of the oval again by the end of this week, just in time for sports day. This will be a great addition to our activities and events as we close out the term.

I reported a nest of fire ants to you last week. A field agent treated the nest last Friday and we expect to return the small area near the shade structure on the oval to normal use by next Monday.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation during this busy period. Your involvement is greatly appreciated as we work together to support our students' success.

Have a great week

Simon Vaseo

Principal

Prep & 1 Excursion, Sorry Day

From the Head of Department - Curriculum

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

I came across this website recently, The Happiness Lab. The site offers six seasons of podcasts dating back to 2019, on a number of topics related to happiness. A recent podcast is titled Tame Those Devices: 10 Tips to Achieve Digital Balance might be helpful for adults and children alike, to more aware of, and manage, their use of technological devices.

Semester 1 Reporting

At Buranda we are implementing a staged transition to Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum. In 2024, Years 1-6 have been are transitioning to the Australian Curriculum Version 9 for English. Further to this, Prep is transitioning to Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum in all learning areas. This has implications for reporting requirements, as outlined below.

• Semester 1 Reports 2024 – Years 1-6

In 2024, on the Years 1-6 student report cards in 2024 you will see:

Grades for achievement and effort for:

• Each learning area:
  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Technologies
  • HPE
    • Health
    • Physical Education
  • Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)
  • The Arts
    • Music
  • Languages
• Comments for:
  • English
  • Mathematics
• Value Added Programs (VAP)
  • Philosophy
  • Instrumental Music
• Behaviour and Homework
• An Overall Comment

• Semester 1 Reports 2024 - Prep

During semester 1, 2024, Prep teachers and students have transitioned to reporting requirements for Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum, for all learning areas, which means that the following learning areas will be summatively assessed, graded on a five-point scale, and appear on the Prep reports: English, Mathematics, and Health and Physical Education. All other learning areas of the curriculum are taught and monitored, but not summatively assessed or reported on a five-point scale. This gives Prep students and teachers the opportunity to focus their teaching and learning on literacy, numeracy, and health and wellbeing, as Prep students settle into school. The table below outlines reporting on Prep students at Buranda. 

• Parent Teacher Interviews Prep – Year 6

Parent teacher interviews will remain the same, mandatory for all students in semester 1, and by expression of interest from the teacher or parent/s or carers in semester 2. Teachers will have work samples and assessment for parents to view at parent teacher interviews.

Primary school assessment and reporting is an opportunity for everyone to understand a student’s achievements and celebrate successes and to identify areas for support, future practice and learning. I would encourage everyone to remain curious, stay engaged and keep learning.

• Emailing Student Reports

Student reports will be emailed on Friday the 14^th June, after 3pm. Please check that your email address is correct with the school office, particularly if you have made any changes in the past six months or are new to Buranda SS. If you have not received your student’s report on the evening of Friday the 14^th June, please check your spam email. If the report email is not there, please email Admin@burandass.eq.edu.au and we will ensure that your student’s report is sent, when school returns the following week.

Upcoming Excursions/Incursions

From Inclusion

Teaching Children the Value of Discipline and Hard Work

In today’s fast-paced world, where instant gratification is becoming the norm, children can easily develop a sense of entitlement. This can lead to them becoming demanding and self-focused. As parents and educators, it’s crucial for us to teach children that they can’t always get what they want immediately.

The purpose of discipline is to set healthy boundaries and clear expectations of appropriate behaviour. Hard work helps them understand that achieving their goals requires effort and patience. These qualities not only make them appreciate the things they have in life but also curb the constant desire for more.

Discipline teaches children to control their impulses, make thoughtful decisions, and behave in a socially acceptable manner. It instils a sense of responsibility and helps them understand the consequences of their actions. Discipline however, does not mean punishing or embarrassing your child. Instead, it should instil valuable lessons that your child will take with them their whole lives. Discipline strategies should be safe, effective and compassionate for every child, and this is particularly important for neurodiverse children. All children’s brains work differently, so some children will pick up on things differently than other children. A child on the Autism Spectrum for example, may not pick up on irritation in your voice or the frustration on your face. The key is consistency and calm.

Hard work, on the other hand, teaches children that success is not handed to them on a silver platter. It has to be earned through consistent effort and perseverance. This understanding can motivate them to strive for their goals and not be disheartened by failures or setbacks, and yes, we must allow them to experience failure and setbacks. Children learn more from their failures than from their successes.

Inculcating discipline and a strong work ethic in children from a young age can have long-term benefits. It can shape their character, improve their self-esteem, and prepare them for the challenges of adulthood.

Children who understand the value of discipline and hard work are likely to grow into responsible and resilient adults. They are more likely to be patient, persistent, and positive in the face of adversity. They are also likely to be more respectful and considerate of others, making them nicer individuals overall.

As parents and educators, it’s our responsibility to guide our children towards becoming well-rounded individuals. Teaching them the value of discipline and hard work is a significant step in that direction. Let’s work together to raise children who are not just smart and talented, but also kind, respectful, and understanding.

Next time: Nurturing the Warriors of Tomorrow

From the Music Room

It is that time of year when we are busy getting assessments finished up ahead of reports, but we’ve still found time for our instruments in most of the music classes these past weeks. A big thank you to the P&C for the djembes that the 1/2 classes have been learning this year – we have just moved on from learning how to make different sounds on the djembe and echo basic rhythms, to learning a djembe groove.

Thank you also to parents who donated soft toys to the music room. After being washed, dried, and successfully retrieved back from my 2-year-old, these toys are being thoroughly enjoyed by the Preps and 1/2 classes in activities that build confidence singing, and reinforce beat and tempo.

For families with students in the choir, please be aware the choir will be performing at assembly in Week 9 this term (Tues 11 June, 1.50 pm – 2.15pm).

Ms Tafra

My New Gallery

Environmental Education Centre

Well here we go, Autumn, and the Environmental Education program for 2024 is already in full swing, with all happy to be in the forest once more.

For those who do not know me yet, my name is Andrew Bryant and I’ve been the teacher of this subject at Buranda for the past seven or eight years now.  These years have been an honour and a pleasure for me, and I look forward to this year with excitement in my heart.

Over the past few weeks, the students have helped kick everything into shape.  The vegetable beds have been weeded, fertilised, mulched and planted, with our two new beds almost finished.  We have also potted up a number of seedlings and tidied up the garden in general.

The beautiful weather has been perfect for us to get out into our little Fairy Wren Forest, near the staff car park, and tidy that up too.  It was a joy to see a spritely, male wren yesterday, hunting in his full mating plumage in this rewilded space.  The students planted this area up about seven years ago and have maintained it each year since.  The wrens come up from the creek to hunt and nest each year.

Mr Bryant

Environmental Education Teacher

From the P & C

Winter Solstice

We are excited about the Winter Solstice on Saturday 15 June 2024. We’ll start with a working bee at 2pm then the solstice from 4pm. There will be delicious food, cold and hot drinks, snacks, acoustic guitar, dancing and the fabulous Tales of Strangers Band plus the bonfire. This is a great annual event and lots of fun for the kids and whole family.

Can you volunteer for a small shift to help? Click on this link or scan the QR Code below to sign up.

We are looking for donations for the Winter Solstice too. Click on this link or scan the QR Code below to pick the items you can donate.

Tuckshop

Tuckshop this Friday, 31 May, has macaroni and cheese bake, plus lots of other yummy things.

Orders close on Qkr! at 8pm tonight.

Thanks for everyone who has volunteered to help the tuckshop so far.

We still need more volunteers to make the tuckshop run. If you can spare a couple of hours on a Friday please sign up at this link.

P&C meeting next week

We have a P&C meeting next Wednesday, 5 June 2024, in the school library, starting at 6.15pm.

If you can't make the meeting in person, please join us via this Microsoft Teams link.

Uniform Shop

• The uniform shop will be exceptionally closed for the following dates:

Thursday 13^th June 2024

Thursday 20^th June 2024

Thursday 11^th July 2024

Cass Somers our Tuckshop convenor will be operating the uniform shop on Wednesday's for the last 2 Wednesday's of term 2 and the first Wednesday of term 3. Please refer to tuckshop@burandasspandc.org.au for queries.

• We had some issues with the lost property (uniforms). Please keep the area as you find it. Labelled items are sorted by classes, please keep them in the correct boxes.

• We have received more track pants (size 4 to 10) and jumpers (size 4 to 16) for the winter.

Please contact Ludivine, uniforms@burandasspandc.org.au for queries.

 Warm regards

Chris McGrath

P&C President

E: president@burandasspandc.org.au

M: 0432899097

P&C website: https://www.burandasspandc.org.au/

P&C on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BurandaPandC

From the Uniform shop

The uniform shop has moved! Come and say hello at the new location, under the office, known as ‘The Old Tuckshop’.

The uniform shop is open Wednesdays 8am-9am and Thursdays 2:30pm-3:30pm. Deliveries to classes from QKR! orders are made on Wednesday mornings. Order on QKR! before 10am Tuesdays.

2025 Holiday opening hours:

Tuesday 16th January - 10am-12am
Wednesday 17th January – 2:30pm-3:30pm
Thursday 18th January – 8am-10am
Monday 22nd January – 8am-9:30am

Uniform Donation:

A box for donation will be put near the uniform shop, the last week of school, for donations.
Please, only donate uniforms in good condition. No tears, rips, or stains! Every year we get rid off half of the donated uniforms because of the state of them.

Lost Property: (uniforms only!)

Lost property, uniforms only, is now next to the new uniform (under the office). Items are sorted by class if labelled with student name.

Remember to put student name on each item.

Please contact Ludivine for any queries:

uniforms@burandasspandc.org.au
on: 0432257248

Ludivine Mahoney, Uniform Shop Convenor

From Helping Hands

From the Community