A Message From The Principal

K P McGrath Drive,ELANORA,QLD,4221,Australia
Website: https://elanorass.eq.edu.au
Phone: (07) 5559 9222
Fax:
Email: the.principal@elanorass.eq.edu.au
A Message From The Principal
Dear Parents
Welcome to Mrs Pam Molnar, a highly experienced local teacher who is replacing Mrs Apanui on 5D. Mrs Rachel Young is replacing
Mrs Jackson on 5C for the next few days.
National Reconciliation Week will be held throughout Australia from 27 May to 3 June. The theme for 2015 is “ It’s time to change it up”.
It is fitting that prior to this special week that we as a school community commit to building relationships and respect with the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander community. On Thursday, our school held a simple ceremony to unveil a plaque on the rock outside the Admin
building. The rock has been donated by the Gold Coast City Council and the inscription on the plaque reads:
You are standing on the land of the Yugambeh clan of the Kombumerri people. The descendents of these people remain spiritually
connected to this place always.
I would like to thank and congratulate the members of our Parent and Carers Indigenous Committee for working so hard to have this
striking monument finished. It will be an inspiration for present and future students – both indigenous and non-indigenous to
acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of this land.
On Wednesday the Support Services Team held a special Differability Day to raise our students’ awareness of and tolerance towards
people’s differences – including their abilities and disabilities. We have many students with verified disabilities at our school and
sometimes those disabilities can also be seen as special skills. We are all different and our differences make us special and unique.
On Thursday evening we held an information evening for parents interested in enrolling their children for Prep next year. Because the
school now has an Enrolment Management Policy, we are required to generally limit enrolment to those students who live in our
catchment area. We are only able to enrol students outside the catchment area if there is capacity. All parents who wish to enrol their
child in Prep for 2016, should contact the school
office to make an appointment with our Prep
Enrolment Officer.
School Council - Parents and staff members who
wish to nominate for our School Council are asked
to complete a nomination form and send it to our
Deputy Principal, Mrs Traucnieks by May 29.
Attached please find the Role Description of School
Council Members and a Nomination Form. Please
contact Mrs Neate if you require further information.
Best wishes to the lucky students in Years 4,5 and 6
who are attending the Science Conference at
Currumbin Sanctuary on Thursday. These students
get to go behind the scenes at the Sanctuary and
find out so much about the care of the animals and
their environments.
Members of our Chaplaincy Committee are holding
a BBQ outside Bunnings at West Burleigh on
Saturday – come along, say Hi, buy a sausage
sizzle and support the continued employment of our
Chappy Doug!
Warm Regards,
Tricia Neate
Principal
Student Success At Elanora State School
Last year Alyssa Park from class 6A was accepted into the Australian Ballet School in
Melbourne for their Interstate Training Program. Alyssa will take part in an intensive week long
ballet program in July and in September. Over the weekend she received the Phyllis Danaher
Memorial scholarship from the Ballet Theatre of Queensland. Ballet Theatre of Queensland
give out two scholarships a year and there are 60 ballet dancers in production, of about 180
that auditioned, so she is very lucky to have been chosen. We congratulate Alyssa on her
outstanding achievement!
Clean & Green - Garden Club
Thankyou to all our wonderful parents/carers, students and volunteers that have helped to re-build our gardens around the school. Our
compost bins are looking very healthy, thanks to the food scrap buckets in each classroom. Our gardens are looking amazing, see for
yourself!
Kate Blackshaw
Clean & Green Team
World Environment Day
Sports Results From Friday 15 May 2015
Elanora Book Club Action Team News
Hello!
We hope you are enjoying the selection of books available in the Scholastic Catalogue all students received last week. Orders are now
open for two weeks, closing Monday June 1. Please remember we are using a new ordering system called LOOP. It means no cash, no
paper order forms, and no lost orders! If you need help, please check out the step-by-step guide here:
[http://www.scholastic.com.au/schools/bookclub/loopinfo.asp]. If you are experiencing any problems, please email Kelly at
mrskellyshepherd@gmail.com. Please also check out the great Book Club competitions for kids that are now open:
· There’s a Kaboom Kids competition where you can win a cricket bat signed by David
Warner;
· A Minions competition with Minions Prize Packs;
· Share a Selfie for a $100 book club voucher; and
· A Star of Deltora competition where Elanora School could win a visit by author Emily
Rodda and illustrator Marc McBride!
Remember, orders close on Monday June 1. Thank-you,
from the Elanora Book Club Action Team.
Draft School Photo Timetable
***PHOTO ENVELOPES AND MONEY ARE HANDED TO THE PHOTOGRAPHERS ON THE DAY OF THE PHOTOS. MONEY WILL
NOT BE COLLECTED OR HELD AT THE OFFICEOR BY YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER. YOUR PHOTO ENVELOPE MUST CONTAIN THE
CORRECT CHANGE. THE SCHOOL OFFICE WILL NOT PROVIDE CHANGE ON THE DAY.
Footprints Parent & Child Expo
From The HOC (Head Of Curriculum)
We have spoken this term about how to support your child with reading.
But what about their writing?
Strengthening your child’s writing:
Prep – Year 6:
• Read your child’s writing or have him/her read the writing to you and comment on the
positive aspects. For example, “I really like the way you described the setting. You
made it so I could have a clear mental picture in my head.”
• Read and talk about the writing that your child brings home from school.
• Praise your child for using neat and legible handwriting and comment, for example,
“Thanks for writing neatly because it means it's easy to read.”
• To help develop spelling and vocabulary, play word games such as I Spy, Scrabble,
Boggle, Scattergories and crosswords.
Research shows that vocabulary growth is largely determined by parental practices, particularly before the age of 7 (Biemiller 2003).
Children mainly use words their parents and other adults use with them in conversation, and acquire larger vocabularies when their
parents use more words.
What’s the difference between a piece of writing with poor vocabulary and one with good vocabulary? Can you can pick which is which?
“They were doing a lot of stuff that day.”
“They were performing a lot of tasks throughout the day.”
• Contact your child’s teacher for support or advice.
• Have your child label things that he or she designs or makes. Encourage your child to
write a procedure on how to make that item, make it into a book/powerpoint/film and
share it with the class.
• Make a photo album or scrapbook with your child and have him or her write captions
for the photos and pictures or encourage your child to keep a diary of a special event,
e.g. a holiday diary.
• Make the writing of notes, letters and stories a normal part of family life.
Janet Fitzgerald
Head of Curriculum
Walk Safely To School Day
Grip Leadership Conference
Ailsa Hartley Leader for Community Development & Alyssa Park Leader for The Arts
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On Friday the 8 May, eight of our school leaders attended the GRIP Leadership Conference at Coolangatta. GRIP stands for
Generosity, Responsibility, Integrity and People. We learnt about leadership values and played games, proving that leaders can also
have fun. We played a familiar game known as ‘Scissors, Paper, Rock.’ The Grip team taught us that there was a leadership meaning
behind this game. The paper stands for creating a plan, the scissors stands for taking action and the rock stands for staying strong.
These three things are important for successful leaders.
Session 1 was called ‘STAND UP: MAKING THE MOST OF LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES”. This topic was about standing up when
there is an opportunity, standing up for what is right for others and for yourself. We learnt that it’s important to take opportunities and
have the confidence to stand up for things we believe in.
In Session two we were given the topic of ‘PAY IT FORWARD’. In this we talked about
generosity. Generosity is classified as a habit of giving to someone else without
expecting anything in return. We discovered that we could be generous with our time,
treasure and our talent. We also discussed ‘LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO
LEAD’ and listed opportunities that we could help with, in our everyday lives.
Throughout the day we analysed what LEAD stood for.
L look and listen
E every day
A ask (asking people)
D decide and do.
The final session of the day was ‘DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP PLAN’. We all
started our own individual leadership plans to help the school based on the ‘PLAN’
strategy:
P priority areas
L listen and gather
A activity
N next steps.
It was a fun day overall and we all learnt many skills to assist us in our leadership role at Elanora this year.
Science
Year One Focus- Chemical Science: Material Madness - In this unit students explore materials and describe their properties. They
describe the actions they use when making physical changes to a material to make an object for a purpose. Students recognise that the
properties of a material affect the physical changes that can be made and the purpose for using a particular material in their everyday
lives. They respond to questions, make predictions and investigate the effects of making physical changes to materials and objects
through guided investigations. Students sort and record their observations and share these with others. They modify a material for a
given purpose, test their modifications and compare their observations with predictions.
Year Four Focus- Biological Science: Ready Set Grow In this unit students will investigate life cycles. They will examine relationships
between living things and their dependence on the environment. By considering human and natural changes to the habitats, students will
predict the effect of these changes on living things, including the impact on the survival of the species. Students will describe situations
where science understanding can influence their own and others’ actions.
Class of the Week: Week 3 – 4C for their enthusiastic discussion on the importance of plants. As scientists they were able to examine
and record information on plants we use in our daily lives. They also showed good knowledge and understanding of the life cycle of
plants.
Class of the Week: Week 4 – 1G for their enthusiastic discussion of bridges and their co-operation during the designing and testing of the
paper bridges that they made.
2015 Science Conference and Showcase - Our annual Science Conference is held at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on Thursday 21st
May - Term 2 Week 5. Students in Years 5 & 6 and selected Year 4 students are involved. Over the next few weeks, the students will be
working on group projects covering topics involving the threats to Australian habitats and wildlife, and ways the community can help to
reduce these threats. These projects will be presented towards the end of this term.
Term 2 Dates:
Week 3 onwards - Yr 6 Science Enrichment lessons with Elanora High School Staff
Week 5 – Science Conference
Weeks 7 & 8 – Wipe Out Waste visits for all classes
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Week 7 – Friday 5 June – World Environment Day
Cleaner Greener Elanora – As our focus this term is World Environment Day and Wipe Out Waste, let’s continue to focus our efforts on
reducing our daily food waste, which includes food and the packaging it comes in.
World Environment Day – The theme for 2015 is Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care. The well-being of humanity, the
environment, and the functioning of the economy, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources.
Evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide. Many of the
Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change, pushed by high population growth and economic
development. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach
9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption. The WED theme this year is therefore "Seven Billion
Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care." Living within planetary boundaries is the most promising strategy for ensuring a healthy
future. Human prosperity need not cost the earth. Living sustainably is about doing more and better with less. It is about knowing that
rising rates of natural resource use and the environmental impacts that occur are not a necessary by-product of economic growth. More
information can be found at http://www.unep.org/wed/theme/sustainable-consumpion.asp
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On World Environment Day, Friday 5 June, ElanoraSS will be hosting its ‘Black & Gold’ T-shirt Day. The Black symbolises the Glossy
Black Cockatoo and the Gold symbolises our National Flora Emblem - Wattle. The Student Council will be collecting gold coin donations
which will be used to continue the sponsorship of the animals we adopted at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary last year. Funds will also
be given to the Sanctuary Hospital Foundation. Our Student Councillors will be distributing information to their classes about this
fundraiser event.
Science Competition – Though this competition is on in Term 3, now is the time to start thinking and looking at ideas for entries. The
Categories this year are:
·
Scientific Investigations - The Task: To design and perform a scientific
investigation and report on the results obtained and the conclusions reached.
·
Engineering and Technology Projects - The Task: To create a device or product to
demonstrate a scientific principle, solve a problem or offer a different approach to
a problem.
·
Classified Collections - The Task: To compile and present a scientific classified
collection to show relationships between the items in the collection, or to assist
in their recognition. Classified collection examples include a collection of
specimens of plants, rocks, insects, shells etc.
·
Communicating Science - The Task: To explain and communicate information
about a scientific concept to a specified audience.
·
Environmental Action Project - The Task: To identify, research, investigate and
present recommendations about a local environmental issue.
More information on categories, project ideas, expectations and dates can be obtained through your class teachers.
Jeanette Simpkins & Shirley Ashburn
Elanora Science Co-ordinators
Resource Centre News
P&C News
Congratulations and Thank you to our volunteers of the Month! They receive a $10 Tuckshop voucher each.
February: Eloise Seaton
March: Jenny Brennan
Last week was Volunteer Week so an extra big thankyou to everyone who volunteers at the school to help in any way big or small to
make Elanora State School a great place to educate our little cherubs. Just the P & C alone has volunteers in the Tuck shop, Uniform
shop , P & C fundraising events and School banking.
Melanie Allen
P & C Secretary
Activities And Excursions
Excursion/ Activity
Payment Due Date
Chess Tournament
Selected Students $18
2 June 2015
Year 6 Camp
$230
5 June 2015
ICAS Maths Competition
Due Now
ICAS English
Competition
Due Now
Starlab - Year 5
Due 12 June
Japan Trip
Selected Students
15 June 2015
Sports Draw 22 May 2015