Thursday's Tidings - 3 October 2024
TERM 4 2024 |
|
| Monday 7 October | King's Birthday Public Holiday |
| Tuesday 8 October | P&C Meeting 5pm in the Library |
| Tuesday 15 October | Nexus Arts - ZimboyZ Performance |
| Friday 25 October | World Teachers' Day |
| Wednesday 6 November | Prep Transition 9am-10:30am |
Term 4 - Week 1
Dear families,
Welcome back to Term 4. It’s been great to see the students return ready to learn from Day 1!
Students had a great end to the term with the disco on the last Thursday and then the free dress on the last day. Lots of smiling students to end Term 3 ?
P&C Meeting
The next P&C meeting will be held next Tuesday 8th at 5pm in the library. Everyone is welcome.
Staffing
Welcome back to Mrs Sandrini after her exciting long service leave and thank you to Mrs Butler for being such an amazing teacher for 4/5S during last term.
Mrs Hayden is our support teacher each Tuesday and Wednesday and she has taken leave for the first 4 weeks of Term 4. Mrs Knox has come back to replace Mrs Hayden during her absence. Welcome (back) Mrs Knox.
Do you know any families with prep age students in 2025?
- Wednesday 6th November 9-10:30am. 2025 preps will join our current students while Mrs Phillips, our Guidance Officer, will be sharing great strategies to support young children
- Wednesday 20th November 2-3pm. Explore and play in the afternoon session.
Public holiday - Monday 7th October
School will be closed this coming Monday for the King’s Birthday public holiday.
Why is reading important for babies and young children?
Reading books, sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child’s development in many ways.
Reading and storytelling can:
- help your child get to know sounds, words and language, and develop early literacy skills
- introduce your child to the value of books and stories
- spark your child’s imagination and curiosity
- promote your child’s brain development and ability to focus and concentrate
- help your child build social, communication and emotional skills
- help your child learn about the world, their own culture and other cultures.
Reading stories with children has benefits for you too. The special time you spend reading together promotes bonding and builds your relationship with your child.
You can start reading aloud to your baby as early as you like – the earlier the better. Your baby will love being held in your arms, listening to your voice, hearing rhyme and rhythm, and looking at pictures.
World Teachers’ Day
It’s World Teachers' Day on Friday 25th October - a day to celebrate and acknowledge the amazing work our teachers do in schools every day.
This year’s theme, Teachers make a difference, highlights the vital role teachers play in each student’s life by supporting, guiding and inspiring their development.
Fence update
The last remaining section of the fence will commence construction by tomorrow and all going to plan, will be installed by next Friday. The revised plan will now have the fence linking the existing fence outside the school office to the green Colourbond shed and then to the base of A Block. The doors under A Bock will now remain as is and a new gate will be installed along the concrete path. The fence will run along the edge of the path to the School St steps, then inside the existing fence to enclose the garden area at the corner of School St and Lawrence St.
The last tasks will be the final inspection followed by the installation of the motors to operate the vehicle gates.
Already the fence has achieved significant reductions in the number of unauthorised visitors, making the school a safer place for students and staff.
Dignity Vending Machine (DVM)
The DVM will be installed this Friday 4th October. The Dignity Vending Machine is a world-first innovation developed by the charity Share the Dignity https://www.sharethedignity.org.au/home. The machine dispenses a free period pack, with six tampons and two pads, at the push of a button. Share the Dignity purchase and supply the specially made #PeriodPacks in the Dignity Vending Machines.
The DVM is supported by the Queensland Government and supports young people to live life with dignity and safety, allowing students to focus on their education rather than on accessing supplies to manage their period.
This information is being shared to enable families to have the opportunity to discuss with their children prior to the installation. Some key information for families:
- The machine will be installed in the senior girls’ toilets and will not be visible by anyone walking past the toilets
- There is no cost for students who access the period products. The machine dispenses the products for free.
- Younger female students access the toilets during eating breaks as these are the closest toilets to the lunch area
- Each Dignity Vending Machine is programmed with a delivery delay of 3 minutes to ensure no period packs are wasted.
- Staff will speak with students about respectful use of the machine.
The https://www.sharethedignity.org.au/home website has further information and videos families might wish to watch with their children.
Kind regards,
Glenn Cafferky
Furniture giveaways
Gympie Central has some furniture that is no longer in use and would like to offer it to our Central families. We have 4 filing cabinets and 3 large tables to giveaway. This will be a first in, first served process. Please contact the office to schedule a time for collection.
Payment Options
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.
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.
2024 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.
Student Absence Notification System
If your child is absent from school without explanation you will receive a SMS text message that morning to your mobile phone asking to explain their absence. Please reply (on the same day) with a simple SMS answer eg sick; specialist appointment. Alternatively, you can call and leave a message on the Student Absence HOTLINE - Telephone 5480 2166 to report your child’s absence.
Please contact the office by phone if you have any concerns regarding the message you have received.
QLD FairPlay Vouchers
Queensland Cost of Living Action is a package of real household savings, including up to $200 FairPlay vouchers to keep even more kids active from July 1.
To relieve cost of living pressures, help is here now.
The popular FairPlay program is open to all Queensland children aged from 5 to 17 years from 1 July 2024, with the voucher value increased per child to $200 to offset the rising cost of junior sport for families.
The number of vouchers for the program has also increased from up to 50,000 to up to 200,000. The additional 150,000 vouchers is available for Queensland children and young people aged between 5 and 17 years, to participate in sport and active recreation.
There is a limit of 1 voucher per child per financial year.
Apply for a FairPlay voucher today.