Cranbrook Newsletter Term 3 - Week 9 2021

Principal's Message

2022 Prep Enrolments

Enrolments for Prep next year are now welcome.  Children born between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017 are eligible to enrol.  Remember a copy of a birth certificate is essential for enrolment.  Please see the flyer below for information regarding our Prep Transition Program starting on Thursday October 21st .

Birth Certificates for Children Starting Prep

Parents of children born between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016 who are starting Prep in 2021 will need a birth certificate to enrol them in the Prep Year. The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages is encouraging parents to apply for birth certificates now to avoid the new school year rush.

To apply for a standard or commemorative birth certificate you can:

• Download an application form from https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/birth-death-and-marriage-certificates/birth-certificates/
• Visit the Registry (Court House) in Walker Street, Townsville.

Don’t leave it to the last minute – apply for a birth certificate now.

Early Entry to Prep

Children who are younger than the prescribed age for Prep may be enrolled in Prep if:
* they turn 5 years by 31st July in the year of proposed attendance; and 
* the principal is satisfied the child is ready for education in Prep, having regard to their attributes (including ability, aptitude, social and emotional competence, physical development, and level of knowledge and understanding).

The principal may also enrol a child in Prep who is younger than the prescribed age if the child:
* has previously started education that is equivalent to Prep in another state or country; and 
* is considered ready for education in Prep, having regard to their attributes (including ability, aptitude, social and emotional competence, physical development, and level of knowledge and understanding).

Delayed Entry

The Preparatory (PREP) Year is now compulsory. This means parents who delay the entry of their child to school do not have the option of not completing Prep.  Every child must now complete Prep rather than starting at Year 1.

Transition to School Resources to Support Your Child

There are many ways a parent or carer can help their child transition from home or kindy to school.

Take a look at the short video from the Department of Education, "What is a Transition Statement" which is one of several videos on their website designed to assist families, early education and care services and schools to support positive transitions to Prep.

Student Resource Scheme

If you have OUTSTANDING Student Resource fees, these are due by the end of this term.  We are in the process of sending home forms to parents who have not paid their students fees.  If your student receives a form, please contact the office to make payment ASAP.  There are a few payment options, so please contact the office to find out about these.

Investment Earns Interest

Most parents know, instinctively, that spending more time with their children and being actively involved in their education makes a valuable investment in their child’s future. As many parents have to juggle competing demands at work and at home, there never seems to be enough time to give.  Often, too, parents are reluctant to offer to help their children with schoolwork because they feel they lack some of the skills that would make a difference to their children's success in school.

The good news coming from analyses of PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) data is that it does not require a university degree or unlimited hours for parents to make a difference.

In fact, many parent-child activities that are associated with better reading performance among students involve relatively little time and no specialised knowledge. What these activities do demand, though, is genuine interest and active engagement.

The PISA 2017 assessment not only gathered data from students and school principals but also addressed questions to the students' parents. Some of these questions focused on the kinds of activities parents did with their children when the children were in their first year of primary school; other questions concentrated on activities parents were engaged in with their children at the time of the PISA test, that is, when their children were 15 years old.

Differences in performance that are associated with parental involvement partly mirror differences in the socio-economic backgrounds of households since, on average, students in socio-economically advantaged households enjoy an environment that is more conducive to learning in many ways, including having more involved parents.  However, even when comparing students of similar socio-economic backgrounds, those students whose parents regularly read books to them in their first year of primary school score 14 points higher, on average, than students whose parents did not.

Interestingly, different types of parent-child activities have different relationships with reading performance. For example, on average, the score point difference in reading that is associated with parental involvement is largest when parents read a book with their child, when they talk about things they have done during the day, and when they tell stories to their children. The score point difference is smallest when parental involvement takes the form of parents playing with alphabet toys with their children.

Results from PISA also show a strong association between some parent-child activities when the children are 15 and students' reading performance in PISA. For example, students whose parents discuss political or social issues with them either weekly or daily score 28 points higher, on average, than those whose parents discuss these issues less often or not at all.

PISA findings also show that other parent-child activities such as 'discussing books, films or television programs', 'discussing how well children are doing at school', 'eating main meals together around the table' and 'spending time just talking with one's children' are also associated with better student reading performance in school.

PISA - the Program for International Student Assessment - is an internationally standardised assessment that was jointly developed by participating OECD countries and administered to 15-year-olds in schools.  It recently released Let's Read Them a Story!  The Parent Factor in Education from which this article is sourced.

Keep a Watch on our School these Holidays

Parents and students can help take care of our school by reporting any suspicious after-hours activity to School Watch on 13 17 88.  By keeping an eye out we can work together to create a safer school community and help to reduce vandalism, theft and arson in our school.  

If you see something suspicious, please don't intervene.  Call the School Watch number and let the local police or State Government Protective Security Service deal with the matter.

Jeff Capell
Principal

Positive Behaviour For Learning

Congratulations to Layla in Year 5,  who was last week's PBL Assembly Draw Winner.  

Congratulations to Khiema in Year 1, who is this week's PBL Assembly Draw Winner.  

Spring Carnival - this Friday!

The Arts Space

The Arts have 2 major events to celebrate this week - last week’s school musical, Rock Bottom and our competitors in the 2021 Townsville Eisteddfod.

Rock Bottom Musical!

Students in Year 4 and 5 had a wonderful time last week performing in the musical Rock Bottom. Months of practice paid off and not even a fire could stop the show from going on!

Congratulations to all students who performed - you did a marvellous job! 

A huge thank you to all the staff, parent and student helpers who assisted with hair and make-up, costumes, lights, video & photography and props. 

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Townsville Eisteddfod

This year, Cranbrook had 7 group entries into the Townsville Eisteddfod, held at the Civic Theatre. 

The competing groups were:  

Nightingale Chorus, Percussion Ensemble, String Orchestra, Wind Quartet, Songbird Chorus, Concert Band and  String Trio.

Congratulations to all competitors, your dedications to your rehearsals over the last two months must be commended!   

Results to date are:

• Nightingale Chorus – 3rd place Year 6 and under Unison & 3rd place Year 6 and under Folk
• Percussion Ensemble – 1st place

The Cranbrook String Orchestra, Wind Quartet and Songbird Chorus have also performed and have made our school proud. 

The Concert Band and String Trio will be performing next week on Monday 13th.  We wish them all the best!

Spring Carnival is Here!

Krispy Creme Collection

Aussie of the Month - August

Congratulations to Ellie in Year 3 for being a kind and helpful classmate and for always assisting with packing up after Chess Club.

Congratulations to Kahlee in Year 4 for excellence in volunteering at Breakfast Club.

Aussie of the Month is based on encouraging and recognising students for their contribution to community. 

The intention is that it aligns to the Values for Australian Schooling and Curriculum framework and recognises students for their effort outside of academic application or sporting achievement and acknowledges students who demonstrate outstanding contributions within their community.

Key values that are sought to amplify are:

​Fair go – not just how we apply ourselves but also in providing opportunity for all

Mateship - a generosity of spirit and compassion for those in need

Respect – of self, of others, our community, and the environment

Inclusion – acceptance and respect of difference

From the P & C

What's On in Prep

It's the Little Things...

Prep A have been watching the construction of our new pick up area and pathway each morning while they eat their Healthy Snack.

They were a little frustrated at not being able to see properly through the signage, so Mrs Suringa let them all take a quick sneak peek.

Now that the signage has been removed, they are happily watching Mrs Ross' "big boy" working hard to make the gardens look beautiful and are super impressed with how much dirt he can shovel!

Sam Suringa
Prep Teacher

Outside School Hours Care

What's On in Year 6

Junior Indigenous Youth Parliament

A few weeks ago, eight of our Year 6 students volunteered to participate in the 2021 Junior Indigenous Youth Parliament that was held this year in Townsville. 

Youth Parliament is a chance for primary school students in Years 5 or 6 to participate in a true to life parliamentary experience as a member of a Youth Government or Youth Opposition. The students were assigned topics and worked hard to prepare their speeches.  While they were initially nervous, they overcame their fears to deliver excellent, well-thought out speeches. 

Deputy Speaker, MP Scott Stewart, was particularly impressed with the students' ideas and passion.  Students also met  MP Les Walker and Speaker MP Curtis Pitt, the organisers of the annual event. 

Students who participated were:

Jakoda: Youth Member for Pearson

Trysten: Youth Member for Roach

Cooper: Youth Member for Education

Cyrin: Youth Member for Rose

Malakai: Youth Member for Saunders

Lily: Youth Member for Thurston

Tellay: Clerk

Jierrah: Sergeant at Arms

A special thank you to Wulgurukaba Elder, Aunty Joy for coming along to support our Indigenous students.

Nicole Bartels
Year 6 Cohort Leader

Prep Transition Program

From the Resource Centre - Week 9

Look at the new and improved spaces.

The Resource Centre staff were very busy last week rearranging the whole library space.  We now have destinctive Senior and Junior areas.  The upper school students are enjoying their own lounge area and the lower grades are now right beside the circulation desk to make borrowing smoother for classes.

LOST BOOKS

As we are getting close to the school holidays please have a look around your homes and cars for any Cranbrook library books and home readers that are lost.  You should be receiving fortnightly email reminders which list the books that are overdue.  See below for features on our library books to look out for:

Cranbrook State School barcode

Stamp on the inside title page

Bright pink Home Reader labels.

Opti-minds 2021

News in Sports

T20 Cricket Blast

Selected students from year 5 and 6  participated in the T20 Cricket Blast Yesterday at Endeavour Park. The students represented the school with great pride and had a wonderful day of outdoor sports.

Our Cranbrook Girls Team was undefeated with Dyneesha Toby being player of the match. I was very proud of their behaviour and their sportsmanship and it was great way to end my week before I go on leave to get married! I will be Mrs Woods when I return in Term 4 and I look forward to a great term full of sport.  

Lara Von Wald
HPE Teacher

Breakfast Club

Our Breakfast Club would like to thank Food Relief North Queensland, our major food donator to Breakfast Club and our Cranbrook families who have generously donated ingredients for our students to have a healthy start to the day and be better prepared for their learning.

Breakfast Club would appreciate donations of tinned spaghetti and cheese please.

You are welcome to drop your donations to the Breakfast Club counter in the mornings before 8:30am or at the office.  

Mrs Juliet Winter
Breakfast Club Co-ordinator

Free Dress Day - Cure Cancer Fundraiser

Thank you to everyone who supported our Student Council fundraiser for Cure Cancer.  All proceeds from our fundraiser will go to Cure Cancer to provide Buddy Boxes to children undergoing cancer treatment. 

You can make a direct contribution to our fundraiser by going to:

https://curecancer.grassrootz.com/.../cranbrook-state-school

Attendance Award - Week 8

Every Day Counts - Attendance

Regular, punctual attendance at school is expected of all students.  Students should be present at school ready to prepare for the day's learning by 8:30am.

Late Arrivals

Students arriving after 8:50am must report to the office to receive a lateslip.  If a student is late, a letter of explanation from the student's parent/guardian must be presented to the office staff on arrival.

Absence

If a student is absent and the parent/guardian has not notified the school, they will receive an automated text message by 10am that day.  

Parents will receive a text message informing them that their child is absent. If you receive one of these text messages, please contact the school to explain the reason for your child’s absence.

A working mobile number should be registered with the school, if available.

Please remember that absence is only marked for the days specified by the parents. If you ring up on a Monday informing that your child is sick and they remain away from school for the following 2 days because they are sick you need to inform us that this was the reason for their absence. You can inform us after the absence via a message directly to the teacher or by contacting our absence hotline or email.

If your child is absent, please leave a message detailing:

• Child's name
• Class
• Reason for absence
• Dates or duration of absence

Absence For More Than 10 Days

What is an exemption and why do I need it?

Every parent of a child of compulsory school age has a legal obligation to ensure their child is enrolled and attending school. Parents can apply for an exemption from this obligation when their child cannot attend or it would be unreasonable in all the circumstances for their child to attend school for a period of more than 10 consecutive school days.

Situations where an application for an exemption may be made include:

• Illness
• Family reasons
• Cultural or religious reasons

If your child is exempt from compulsory schooling, you are excused from your obligation in relation to compulsory schooling. 

The school principal is not responsible for providing an educational program for your child, however they may provide advice on other educational options available. Decisions about exemptions for up to one school year are made by the principal and decisions about exemptions for more than one school year are made by the relevant Regional Director of the Department of Education, Training and Employment, responsible for the supervision of the school your child attends.   

Community News