Thursday's Tidings - 31 October 2024
TERM 4 2024 |
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| Wednesday 6 November | Prep Transition 9am-10:30am |
| Monday 11 November | Remembrance Day |
| Tuesday 19 November | RI Presentation |
| Wednesday 20 November | Prep Transition 2pm-3pm |
| Sunday 24 November | P&C Bunnings BBQ |
| Monday 25 November | Year 7 Orientation Day |
| Thursday 28 November | End of Year Concert |
| Wednesday 4 December | Year 6 Graduation |
| Thursday 5 December | Report Cards Emailed |
| Tuesday 10 December | Gotcha Rewards Trip |
| Friday 13 December | Final Day of School for 2024 |
Term 4 - Week 5
Dear families,
As we head toward the end of the year, the next 5 weeks will be jam packed. Students will be entering their English assessment phase so it’s really important that if your children are fit and healthy, that they are attending. Teachers work hard to prepare the students and to make up time when students are away, but this isn’t always possible if students miss days regularly.
You might be aware that this is an 11 week term meaning that this year students finish on Friday 13th December. While the term is 11 weeks long, the school will run it’s end of year events (End of Year concert and Yr 6 graduation) in weeks 9 and 10 respectively. Report cards will be emailed on Thursday 5th December.
The school will remain open for all students for the entire term and during the 11th week, will implement alternative programs that have an enhanced focus on engagement, cultural and wellbeing activities.
A shout out to Mr Boyd who’s been coaching our students competing in the Monday afternoon interschool futsal competition. Many of our older students enjoy the daily soccer games at school and the futsal competition is a great opportunity to develop their skills competing against other teams.
Prep Transitions - 6th and 20th November
Our next prep transition morning is next Wednesday 6th November from 9-10:30am. The school has over 20 students enrolled for prep in 2025. If you know of any families who have prep age children for next year, please share the details of the transition sessions. Families who are exploring school options for their child are most welcome to attend one or both of these sessions.
The last transition session will be held on Wednesday 20th November from 2-3pm.
Enrolments
The school is beginning to plan classes for 2025. If you know that you are leaving Gympie or your child won’t be attending Gympie Central in 2025, please email admin@gympiecentralss.eq.edu.au, as this will help the school plan its classes more accurately. If you know of families moving to Gympie, enrolment walkthroughs are always welcome and can be booked by phoning or emailing the same email.
Encouraging reading habits
Let your kids see you read.
Read a magazine over your morning coffee, take a magazine from the rack in a doctor’s office while you wait, and stuff a paperback into your purse, pocket, or briefcase. Your kids will catch on to the fact that reading is something you like to do in your spare time.
“If parents don’t read a lot in front of kids, and instead watch lots of electronics — like TV and the computer — then the kids will think that’s what they’re supposed to do and they might not read as much,” says Cameron.
Make reading together fun and memorable.
Parents can convey important positive impressions about reading by making reading an experience their children will remember and cherish.
Emily says, “My mom really likes to read to me and she makes the books sound funny by using different voices.”
It’s not what you read to your child that counts; it’s how. Make a story come alive by changing your voice and pace, or using sound effects and motions.
Requests for information and assessments for external providers
The school is receiving increasing requests for teachers to work with External Providers. External providers (External providers can include: government agencies (e.g., CYMHS, CDS), medical specialists (e.g., Paediatricians, Child Psychiatrists) or private providers (e.g., Psychologists, Social Workers, Counsellors or Therapists working in private practice) offer a valuable service in supporting individual students.
Collaboration between the provider and school can result in more effective support for the student.
As part of the external provider’s process of assessing needs and supporting students, schools are often requested to provide information regarding a student’s current presentation, progress, functioning and support needs.
Given that the information involved is often of a sensitive nature and can rely on specific administration protocols, Gympie Central State School adopts a best practice approach when responding to requests received from external providers.
Our Guidance Officer, Lizette Phillips, will support teachers to ensure Quality Assurance and class teachers are supported. To support Gympie Central to adhere to policy and respond to requests appropriately, it is requested that parents/caregivers follow the following processes to request information for appointments with external providers.
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Requests for student information for external providers are to be made in writing/email to the administration office at Teachers will direct parents to communicate this in email to the principal, rather than to them directly. Suggested information to include would be: name of external provider and their direct email contact details / name of student / date of request / and date required by, as well as an indication of the specific documents and rating scales required. |
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Parent/caregiver consent must be documented prior to the school responding to the request. You will be asked to complete a “consent form to share student personal information with third parties”. We will list the details of the external provider(s) e.g., name, title and contact details. The Department of Education needs third party consent in writing before it uses, records or discloses personal information, with third party individuals and organisations. You can withdraw your consent at any time in writing by emailing the school. |
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Reasonable timeframes for all requests are required out of respect for our teacher’s valuable time. |
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Any tests or questionnaires must be provided in paper form. At this time, online assessments cannot be completed as they breach the Department of Education policy around storing information offshore. |
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A summary of results or a copy of any ensuing reports should be provided directly to the school. |
If you would like further information regarding this policy and process, please don’t hesitate to contact myself or our Guidance Officer, Mrs Phillips.
Do your children use Polleys buses?
Polleys have asked all schools to share the attached information for students who travel to and from school by bus. It is a general reminder and not specific to any particular students.
QParents
QParents has launched at Gympie Central SS! Register online now at https://qparents.qld.edu.au using the unique invitation code email sent out from us. Letters containing your student's EQ ID have gone home with students today. You will need this letter to complete the registration process.
If you need assistance with the registration process, please contact the office on 5480 2111 for support.
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.
Kind regards,
Glenn Cafferky
Overdue Payments
There are still some families with invoices outstanding. Please ensure that these oustanding payments are finalised by 1st November this year. Our various payment options are listed below. Please contact the office if you are having difficulties finalising your overdue payments.
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.