Cranbrook State School eNewsletter

Principal's Message

Good afternoon everyone.

Orange Hats - Prep Students Only

One of our safety measures to ensure prep students remain in SAFE areas is the wearing of an orange hat. If staff see an orange hat outside the prep areas, they know to act by taking them back. Parents of other year level students are asked to ensure that a Cranbrook School Hat is worn. NO CRANBROOK HAT = NO PLAY

Parents are reminded that every time you wait on the opposite side of the road and let your child walk across the road, you are putting them in danger. We had a close call late last week simply because the child was excited to see Mum and didn’t look before crossing the road. Protect your children and walk to the school side of the road and walk them across using crossings where available.

Jewellery

Boys and girls are permitted to wear a watch, plain bracelet and two pairs of sleeper earrings or two pairs of plain studs if these are necessary, one plain chain necklace and a plain ring. No other form of jewellery or adornment is to be worn. Nose and other forms of face studs are not acceptable.

Parents are reminded to help the school by enforcing these expectations before they leave your home (especially the rubber band bracelets).

Term 1 Extra & Co-Curricular Activities

All students are invited to attend the Term 1 activities, where appropriate. Activities are limited to a maximum of 25 students in most cases and parents will be informed if their child is unable to continue to attend due to high student participation rates. A copy of our timetable is available to view and download below.

Make Every Day Count in 2024

Make 2024 the year that your child doesn’t miss a day of school. Research shows that students who have good patterns of attendance are more likely to achieve at school. If students aren’t at school or don’t stay for the whole day, they are missing valuable lessons.

Traffic Problems

Many schools face the challenge of traffic congestion at drop off and pick up times with regard to finding a car park. Please don’t forget that you can make use of the numerous car parking spaces on Bergin Road and Albert Street. Patience is needed at these very busy times to maximise the safety and wellbeing of all our students. Please remember, NOT to use the staff car park either. Drop off/pick up is a hectic time inside the school too and extra foot and car traffic just adds extra safety concerns.

The 2024 Student Leaders' Investiture Ceremony was held yesterday morning. It's always a very special occassion and we are thankful to those family, friends and community members, who attended. A special thank you to Georgia's Mum at Blended Townsville for her cupcakes.

Parent Volunteer Course

The parent volunteer course is conducted by classroom teachers in the classroom. If you are interested in volunteering within our school you will need to arrange a time with your child’s teacher to do the 10 minute annual update.

Prep Check In

With just two more weeks to go, we invite all Prep parents, if you haven't done so already, to book in a time to meet with their child’s Prep Teacher. This will commence the three way partnership that exists in each child’s journey through school and support a positive relationship of everyone working together to achieve the best outcomes for each individual child. During this time your child’s Teacher will provide a brief update on how your child is travelling so far, raise any initial concerns or observations and give an opportunity for you to ask or share anything that you feel is relevant.

Where: Your child’s classroom

When: Tuesday afternoons after school - 20 & 27 February

Book your place: https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70355

(New parents will have to create an account first. Please see the PDF flyer below for instructions)

Please contact our office on 47261222 with any queries you may have.

Creating a SOBS account

Have a great weekend!

Jeff Capell
Principal

Extra Curricular Activities Term 1

Coming Up....

This coming week - Week 5 (beginning Monday, 19 February)

Monday - Swim Team Training at Ignatius Park College Pool.....7.15am

Tuesday - Prep check-in sessions 3.20 - 4.20pm (see link below)

- Musical rehearsals 3-4pm (ongoing)

Wednesday - P&C Meeting at 6.30pm in the Uniform Shop

Thursday - Swim Team Training at Ignatius Park College Pool.....7.15am

Week 6 (beginning Monday, 26 February)

Monday - Swim Team Training at Ignatius Park......7.15am

Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday - Prep Vision Screening

Tuesday - Prep check-in sessions....3.20 - 4.20pm (see link below)

Thursday - Swim Team Training at Ignatius Park....7.15am

Week 7 (beginning Monday 4 March)

Tuesday - C School's Swimming Carnvial (select students)

Thursday - Student Disco: Prep to Year 3 is 5.45 - 7pm / Years 4 to 6 is 7.15 - 8.30pm in the hall

Attending our parades is a great way to hear about what's happening around our school, to see the recipients of various awards, to put faces to names and to show your children you are interested in them! Come and join us whenever you can!

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 Hotline - 4726 1260

Absence Email - absences@cranbrookss.eq.edu.au

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.

PBL - Positive Behaviour for Learning

Last week, our PBL was about being respectful and making sure we show self respect, courtesy and pride.

This week, we looked at being responsible and acting as upstanders.

Below are the 'for families' poster of our lessons, which gives you a chance to continue these conversations at home and possibly apply them to your daily family life.

Investiture 2024

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful ceremony, as we officially appointed our 2024 Student Leaders. Thank you to everyone who joined us, with particular thanks to our P&C President, Mr Adrian Coventry, Senior Constable Muller, Elder Aunty Joy and Fabian Walton, one of our 2023 School Captains. A special thanks and acknowledgement to Blended Townsville for the delicious Cranbrook cupcakes.

Year 1 is so much fun!!!

What your child is learning - Year 1

Prep Vision Screening

The Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program is coming to our school on 27, 28 and 29 February.

This program is a Queensland Government service that offers Free Vision Screening to all children enrolled in Prep.

Thank you to the many families who have returned consent for their child to participate. There are still a few more families to go! Paper copies of the consent forms went home with these Prep children during the week. Please return the completed form on Monday, or use the link below to fill it out online.

Vision Screening Consent Form

Clink here to watch a video that explains the benefits of having your Prep child’s vision screened.

Questions? Please have a read through the program's frequently asked questions and information sheet.

From The Arts

Instrumental Music

A reminder of times of all our Instrumental musicians....

Strings Lessons - Monday

Orchestra - Monday 8.10 - 9am

Piano Lessons - Tuesday or Thursday

Guitar Lessons - Wednesday

Brass Lessons - Thursday

Concert Band - Friday 8 - 8.50am

Woodwind Lessons - Friday

Percussion Lessons - Friday

Ukulele - Wednesday 1st break

Recorder - Tuesday 1st break

CONGRATULATIONS to students who auditioned for Drama Excellence and Visual Arts Excellence - you are all accepted! We are really excited to have you join us this year!

Guitar Timetable Term 1

Strings Timetable Term 1

Brass Timetable Term 1

Woodwind Timetable Term 1

Piano Timetable Term 1

String Snippets

We have some vacancies left in our instrumental string program for 2024 for students in grade 3-5.

Students wishing to learn violin or viola will be required to purchase their own instrument as this is the second round of enrollments.

We have 2 cellos spare which can be loaned from the school for students in grade 4 onwards.

If you child has previously learnt at another school and would like to continue, please contact the school for further information.

To receive an enrollment pack with all the information needed and to put in your expression of interest please contact arts@cranbrookss.eq.edu.au

Ms Lloyd-Doolan - Instrumental Music Strings.

Our first Arts Class of the Week goes to.....

** 6C ** for being responsible with paint and their buddies, being respectful to staff during wait time and activity time and for demonstrating safety with paint to Prep buddies.

Well done, to Mr Wilson's 6C. Great to hear such a positive review of your behaviour!

.....and to show you just what we're talking about, here are some photos from the week in the Arts!

This week, Prep and Year 6 buddies worked together to make Valentine’s craft for one another. Year 6s painted their Prep buddies’ hands and make heart prints to share. They also printed a second hand to make a super special mural to be revealed later in the term! All the buddies loved painting and printing hands and look forward to enjoying more activities together soon!

Congratulations to our first recipient of the HPE Class of Week, Mr Abraham's 4A! This group of students were amazing encouragers of their peers and showed great sportsmanship throughout their lesson.

Sports Captains

Yesterday, our House Captains were presented with their leadership badges at the Investiture of Student Leaders.

Balara – Joyce and Bella

Cooradilla – Tyler and Hunter

Kalyara – Sophia and Hamish

Wallaringa – Joel and Aijana

Congratulations to each of the House Captains, I look forward to working with you throughout the year.

Inter School Swimming Squad

Our Inter School Swimming Carnival will be held at Long Tan Pool, Tuesday 5th of March between 9:15 – 11:30am.

Training will continue on Monday and Thursday next week as per details below.

WHERE: Ignatius Park College, Cranbrook

WHEN: February 19th, 22nd, 26th and 29th

Mondays - 7:15am – 8:15am

Wednesdays – 7:15 – 8:15am

Gala Days

Students in years 5 and 6 will commence trials and training in Week 5 for the Cranbrook School Gala Teams for the following events:

· Ruth Young Memorial Hockey Gala Day – Friday 1st March

· Bill Nettle Challenge Rugby League Gala Day – Thursday 28th March

· NQ Netball Cup – Thursday 28th March

Yours in sport,

Mrs McMinn

From the Resource Centre

This week Queensland celebrated School Library Week. Queensland school libraries positively influence the learning outcomes of students through teaching multiple literacies and encouraging a lifelong love of learning and reading. Our Cranbrook Library is always a busy hub with enrichment groups, reading intervention, class borrowing, meetings, Book Fairs and Chappy Tim visits. At play times, our doors open and we see students reading with friends or with 'Reading Buddies', learning cooperation, patience and turn taking whilst playing board games, building spacial awareness with puzzles and lowering stress levels with drawing and colouring in. Our Library is certainly a humming community space!

Class Borrowing Days

For students in Prep / Year 1 / Year 2 / Year 3…..you must have a library bag to protect your books.

It is very important that books are returned every week.

Students are not allowed to borrow more books until any outstanding ones are returned.

Please return your child’s home reader and library books on the following days:

From your P&C

Our Uniform Shop is open each school morning from 8-9am. Don't forget our Coffee Cart with a range of hot and cold drinks available. For appointments and queries, please contact Bridget on 0457 869 194.

Please remember to change your child's class when ordering Tuckshop from the Qkr! app. Lunches are taking a long time to get to students, reducing their eating time, because they are going to their 2023 classes. There is no automatic rollover - you must change the details. Many thanks!

Our first meeting for 2024 will be held on Wednesday 21 February at 6.30pm in our Uniform Shop. All welcome and encouraged to attend!

We have an exciting funraiser just around the corner.......

Come and join us for our Trivia Night on Saturday, 24 February.

2023 Tuckshop Menu

This is our current tuckshop menu

Spotlight on....

Solid Pathways

Solid Pathways–STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) online program is an extension program for high-achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students attending Queensland state schools. The program enables students to develop STEM capabilities and nurtures their scientific curiosity through critical and creative thinking.

Solid Pathways–STEM enables students in Years 4 to 6 to engage in an innovative, enriching STEM-focused academic curriculum through the online platform iSee. The program draws on the Australian Curriculum's general capability, critical and creative thinking, and embedding the cross-curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. Students have the opportunity to build upon both their existing sense of cultural identity as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and their self-efficacy as high achieving students. Solid Pathways–STEM aims to inspire students' passion and aspiration to pursue STEM pathways.

Our Year 6 group is participating in the course 'Fire on Fire - let's enquire'. They will be investigating how fire is used to influence habitats affect the growth and survival of living things. What can we learn and apply from Indigenous land management practices? Examine how modern fire management methods can learn from and build on Indigenous fire knowledge.

This week we were excited to carry out six experiments, exploring what influences fire. It was really interesting and sparked lots of debate and conversation.

Thanks Mr Sanim, for taking the time to help us out!

Meet our....

....Dynamic Duo heading up our school team!

This is our Principal, Mr Jeff Capell. Jeff joined our Cranbrook Community over 13 years ago now! Did you know that the Cowboys are his favourite sporting team? You may have guessed that Rugby League is his favourite sport because we just MUST have at least one State of Origin free dress day every year! Jeff was born in Rockhampton and moved to Townsville in 2009 for love and yes, Terrena is still by his side today. She even puts up with him often doing his favourite weekend activity - fishing. Jeff's favourite thing about Cranbrook is the P&C. He loves that the parent group works together and supports the school, to give our students better facilities. In fact, the P&C meetings are actually a great way to get to know him, outside the official day to day running of the school.

This is our Deputy Principal, Mr Kyle Sanim. A born and bred Townsvillian, Kyle just loves that nowhere is more than a 20 minute drive here in the 'Ville, as well as the fact that we have the best of both worlds - the beach on our front door step and the bush on our back. It must come with leadership positions, because Kyle's favourite sport is also Rugby League, claiming it's the greatest sport on earth! ....and he's a Rabbitoh's fan. Kyle also doesn't mind a bit of NBA action either and supports the New Orleans Pelicans. Kyle has had an extensive and varied career with the Education Department since 2012, taking on many roles, before returning to Cranbrook last year to take up the Deputy position. Loving a good BBQ and family time with his wife and 3 girls on the weekends, he can come back to Cranbrook with a smile because he loves that every student he walks pasts, makes him feel welcome.

Colourful Free Dress Day

We had our first free dress day for the year today and there were a lot of colourful kids around the place! Thanks everyone for participating. By donating a gold coin, you helped us to help our sponsor child beat poverty and get an education.