Thursday's Tidings - 23 March 2023

Dear families, 

Welcome to the last newsletter for Term 1. Students have received their feedback, are finishing their assessment tasks and are getting ready for next week’s cross country, Prep-Yr 2 Easter Bonnet parade and the Prep-Yr 2 Mary St Easter walk.  

At present, there is some great community engagement taking place. The 5/6 camp students are at the Currimundi Outdoor Recreation Centre, the remaining 4/5D and 5/6B students at school headed out and about to the Gympie Art Gallery today and will visit the town library tomorrow.  

Next week, there will be a Religious Instruction whole school presentation on Wednesday afternoon (only students with permission attend these), the Cross Country is from 9am – 11am on Thursday (families are invited to cheer on the students) and on Friday the P-2 students will do their Easter Bonnet parade followed by the walk to Mary Street to spread some Easter cheer. 

In Week 1 of next term, our strings students will be participating in the Intermediate or Advanced strings workshops hosted at Gympie South. Remember to return the consent forms as soon as possible. 

On Tuesday April 25, our staff and students will be marching at the ANZAC Day march. If you are here on the Tuesday, students are invited to join their peers and Gympie schools to commemorate this important day. 

Prep Open Morning - Saturday 13 May 9:00-10:30am 

Next term, the school will host a Prep open morning on Saturday 13 May. This will give people who are starting to think about their child’s 2024 prep classroom, a chance to look around and ask questions. Families can join staff and parents to explore what Gympie Central can offer their child.  

P&C News - New committee, uniform sale and Mother’s Day 

The Gympie Central SS P&C held its AGM last week and the school would like to congratulate the new committee. Kara Tebbit has continued in the role of President, Kris Auld is the new Treasurer, Amy Bryers will stay as Secretary and Natasha Ball stepped into the Vice-President role. The P&C has fantastic momentum and a dedicated committee. Thank you to everyone who joined the meeting and to all of those who have helped out behind the scenes to make the P&C so successful. 

Students wear our uniform with pride and with the cooler months approaching, navy jumpers are the required winter uniform. Early next term, the P&C will host a 2nd hand uniform sale on Friday 5 May between 8am and 10am There will be plenty of: 

• navy school jumpers 
• 2nd hand shirts 
• navy track pants 

If you have any old uniforms that have been outgrown, the P&C will gladly accept donations.

The P&C is also starting to plan for its Mother’s Day stall. If you have any items that would work in a Mother’s Day hamper, or if you are crafty and can contribute items, the committee would really appreciate these donations when they put out the call next term. 

School Attendance Matters 

Regular attendance and punctuality are important factors in supporting successful learners. Students who arrive late often miss vital information given at the start of the day. They often feel anxious about entering the classroom as they are unsure of the work being done or what they should be doing. Our first bell rings at 8:40am and learning begins at 8:50am. It is important that students arrive prior to this so they are able to greet their classmates and teacher as get ready for learning.  

Children do better when they go to school all day, every day. Please notify the school if your child is sick or can’t go to school.  

Every day counts… 

• because children achieve better when they attend school all day, every day;  
• because going to school means getting a better chance at life; 
• because school helps children build social and emotional skills such as communication, teamwork and resilience; 
• because going to school is a legal requirement. 

Remember, we are here to help 

Like always, if there is something that you want our support with, or if your child is struggling, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher for support.  If it is not a matter for the teacher, please call the front office and arrange to meet with a member of the leadership team, so we can work through things together.  It takes a village to raise a child, so let’s work together. 

Student Council Fundraisers tomorrow

Tomorrow is the last day that the Student Council will be selling ice blocks this term. They will be on sale at 2nd break and they will have $1 and $2 options available.

2023 Voluntary Financial Contribution - $20 per student

Each year, the Gympie Central State School P & C Association endorse a voluntary financial contribution of $20 per student, which equates to $0.50 per week for the entire school year. This money is a vital part of Gympie Central P&C’s commitment and helps to fund reading books, classroom resources, photocopying paper and tissues. This year the payment can be made via the Qkr! app or in person at the office. Your support in paying the voluntary contribution is greatly appreciated.

We have a variety of payment options available here at Gympie Central. Our most preferred method of payment is the Qkr! app. Qkr! is a cashless payment app, which means you can make payments on your mobile phone, rather coming into the school. The Gympie Central P&C also use this app, so not only can you pay for camps and excursions, but you can also order school uniforms and tuckshop with the app.

Instructions on how to download and use the app are shown in the link below.

Qkr-instructions.pdf

Qkr-instructions _pdf 1.05 MB

Other payment options that we provide are:

1. BPOINT - (for invoiced activities) Pay online or by phone using credit/debit card: https://www.bpoint.com.au/payments/dete or phone 1300 631 073

2. CENTREPAY - (for invoiced activities) We now offer Centrepay as a payment method for instrumental music and school camps. Use Centrepay to arrange regular deductions from your Centrelink payment. You can start, change or stop using Centrepay whenever you like. If you would like to set up a Centrepay payment, or know more information about this payment method, please contact the school office.

3. EFTPOS - We accept Mastercard, Visa and all Australian bank, building society and credit union cards.

4. CASH - Cash payments are still accepted. However, the school no longer has the ability to give out change, so only cash payments of the correct denomination will be accepted.

Crossing Supervisor