Thursday's Tidings - 14 November 2024

Classes are in the thick of assessment at the moment and it’s important that if you child is well, they are at school. Regular attendance all year long gives your child the best opportunity to reach their full potential. 

Prep 2025 

Last week, the school held its third prep transition for the year, where 18 future preps attended. It was a great morning and there are another 5 or 6 who couldn’t make it on the day. Our final prep transition is next Wednesday 20th from 2pm- 3pm. If you know of any families considering their options for prep in 2025, let them know that everyone is welcome to attend to have a look at how Central can support their child to have a great start to school! 

Eleven Week Term  

This year, the final term is 11 weeks long. The school is open for all students in the 11th week (9-13 December) and will be running an alternative program for students where there will be a focus on wellbeing and engagement activities. Some classes will be combined to enable staff to be released to plan for 2025. There will not be formal lessons during the week, but routines will be kept as close to normal as possible. 

School Captain Speeches 

Next Tuesday morning, we have 8 candidates giving speeches for position of school captain in 2025. These will take place on Tuesday 19th November, beginning at 10:20am. Families are invited to come and watch the speeches.  

Survey Results - Thank You 

Thank you to the families who took the time to complete the survey emailed last week. Your responses have helped inform our priority of Engagement/Wellbeing next year. A copy of the responses is able to be viewed here - Parent Responses. A similar process was conducted with a group of Year 5 and 6 student and they were able to come up with some great feedback to the following questions: 

What do you like about our school? 

• Easy to make friends 

• Big soccer field 

• Teachers are nice 

• The talent shows 

• Staff care about us  

• Wildlife 

• Communication 

• We’re lucky 

• Staff/ community 

• PE 

• Computer lab 

• The blue tongues 

What behaviours would you like to see more of? 

• More kindness 

• Less bullying 

• Less chatting in class 

• Better attitude at soccer 

• Optional fundraising events 

• Get out of class 3 times a session for drinks and emergencies 

• More sporty students 

• More positivity 

What things would you like to see more of? 

• More students 

• IPhone corner with free wi-fi  

• Be able to choose preferred playgrounds 

• Arts club 

• Flying fox 

• New pens and pencils in the library 

• More plants/ flowers/ bushes 

• Make the doors cover more in the girls’ toilets  

• Less rocks in the playground 

• Toilets upgrade 

• Year 6s get to be a helper in another class 

It was a really valuable exercise and in among the many responses are some idea that can be incorporated into our work here at Gympie Central. 

Upcoming Events

As always, the end of the year will be a busy with the following events: 

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. 

Bus Rules

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. 

Have a great weekend!

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.

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.