Beerwah State School

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to 2026! I would especially like to welcome our new parents/carers and students to our wonderful school. Welcome to Mrs Webster who will be acting Deputy Principal for weeks 1 to 4. Congratulations to everyone for a great start to the year. The atmosphere of our first two weeks has been calm and purposeful and classes have been active in learning from the very start. I am very excited to be working with you and your children this year to support them to be the very best they can be.

Day 8 census was completed yesterday. I am pleased to let you know that we are able to maintain our 9-class structure and there will be no class changes. Our nine classes for 2026 are Prep A, Prep/1, 1/2, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5/6A, 5/6B & 5/6C.

Assemblies

Just a reminder that full school assemblies will be held in the hall each week on Tuesdays at 9:00am. Parents/carers are welcome to attend every week. If your child is receiving a certificate, you will receive an email from the classroom teacher the week before, inviting you or a nominated family member to remain behind after assembly for 10 minutes and have a piece of gluten free chocolate cake with your child to celebrate their success.

Name Labels for Stop, Drop & Go

Surname labels assist us to identify your car quickly at the stop, drop and go area and minimises wait times and congestion. If you need a label printed, please see the Office where a label can be printed for you on the spot. Attach the label with some rubber bands to your sun visor and then flip the sun visor down as you approach the pickup area.

Class Newsletters and Behaviour Management Plans

You will receive a classroom newsletter and classroom behaviour management plan from your child’s teacher. Please read the plan carefully as it explains how the teacher will be fostering appropriate classroom behaviour and managing inappropriate classroom behaviour. It is necessary for you to return the attached tear – off slip to your child’s teacher. Please discuss this plan with your child to reinforce their understandings.

Parent/Teacher Welcome Interviews

We host Parent / Teacher Welcome interviews in Week 4 on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 from 3:10pm in the Hall. All families are encouraged to take this opportunity to talk with your teacher about your child, their likes and dislikes, and what makes them the wonderfully unique human beings that they are, so as a partnership team we can get the best possible year of learning happening for them at Beerwah!! Please refer to information from Mr Deady in this Newsletter for more details around booking interviews.

Uniform

This year, one of my focus areas will be school uniform. We have a school uniform policy which can be found on our school website. Please ensure your child is in full school uniform each day. Wearing our school uniform with pride helps to maintain a positive culture within the whole school community. Please ensure your student is also wearing the correct schoolhat and not a cap along with black shoes. Please make an appointment to see me if you are having difficulty with uniforms.

Student Induction Ceremony

On Monday 9 February, we will hold our annual Student Induction Ceremony, where our 2026 student leaders receive their badge of office. You will already have received an invitation if your Year 6 child is receiving a badge. All other parents are welcome to attend the Induction Assembly.

Apps to Download

Can I encourage all parents/carers to download the Skoolbag/Audiri app which is our preferred way to communicate important messages and also the QKR! app to order and pay for tuckshop. All permissions/consents for excursions will be accessed through the QParents app. No stress, No paper, and payment can be made all at the same time, same place. Excursion Permission Consents/school payments will no longer be release on other platforms.

Consent for excursions is a simple tick off the box and most of the consent form will prepopulate to your information. Once completed an invoice will be generated in QParents ready for payment and you’re done!

'Away for the day' – mobile phones and wearable devices

All Queensland state school students are required to keep mobile phones switched off and 'away for the day' while on school grounds and while attending school activities, such as representative school sport, excursions and camps. Students may hand their devices to the Office upon arriving to school for safe keeping and collect upon leaving.

Wearable devices, such as smartwatches, can be worn to school but notifications must be switched off so that phone calls, messages and other notifications cannot be sent or received.

Your child can continue to bring their phone to school to communicate with you, once outside the school grounds.

'Away for the day' supports schools to maintain a strong focus on educational achievement, and student wellbeing and engagement by:

· providing optimal learning and teaching environments

· encouraging increased face-to-face social interactions between students

· promoting the health and wellbeing of students through increased social interaction and physical activity

· reducing the potential for students to be exposed to the negative impacts of the digital world, resulting from unsafe or inappropriate technology use.

As a parent or carer, you play an important role in supporting your child to engage with technology in safe and respectful ways. Parents can support schools to implement the 'away for the day' approach by:

talking with your child about the requirement to have their phone switched off and away for the day, and/or notifications disabled on wearable devices

· using the school's preferred communication method to contact your child during the day, such as phoning the school office

· establishing routines at home to help your child balance their use of devices and screen time.

Please contact the school if you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy.

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Scott Bowden

Principal

Each fortnight this year I will be sharing some examples of learning from different classrooms. These may be stories, photos or videos. I look forward to showcasing the amazing teaching and learning occurring across our school every fortnight.

Early in the Term we are ensuring that students understand learning intent of the units (what they are learning about) and what makes a quality (A standard) version. This allows children to understand the purpose of their learning and relate feedback teachers give to the task they are completing. An example of this from Year 1 is:

1. What are you learning about in English this term?

Retell, share ideas and opinions about a character in a poetic story.

2. What’s an opinion?

When I talk about something I feel about the characters with reasons.

This first question can be asked at home as well as a good alternative to ‘how was school?’ because it encourages more conversation. The second question I asked to check that children understand what these words mean.

Reading

The teaching of reading is an ongoing process, well into high school. There are many ways that we can best teach children to read at home and school. One of the foundation principles is summarised by the ‘simple view of reading’:

Word Recognition x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension

The multiplication sign is important because it’s showing that if someone does not have strong word recognition or language comprehension, then they will not be able to achieve reading comprehension.

The link below is to a short video from the Department of Education that explains ‘supporting beginning readers’ (https://mediasite.eq.edu.au/mediasite/Play/d5a99b04712b44758dc85854bde46a3c1d).

Parent-teacher interviews

As Mr Bowden mentioned, parent-teacher interviews are an excellent opportunity to build our partnerships that will help children have a really successful year at Beerwah State School.

Our parent - teacher interviews will be held in the school hall on Wednesday 18 February at 3:10pm until 6pm.

Each interview is 10 minutes long, with a 2-minute change over time.

We will be using the School Interviews booking system again. This will allow caregivers to book meeting times online.

Bookings opened on Friday 6 February at 4:00 pm.

Bookings will close on Tuesday 17 February at 9:00 am.

The link and QR code below will take you to the booking page.

Check out our calendar of events throughout the year, via the school's website at

Beerwah State School - https://beerwahss.eq.edu.au/calendar-and-news/events-calendar

You can sync any event to your personal calendar by clicking to  open the event and click on the  'Add to Calendar' button.  

Check out our School and P&C Facebook pages for more Celebrations and what's happening at our School.

Beerwah State School Facebook page

                                                                                                 BSS P&C Facebook page

"Everyone is a reader, some just haven't found their favourite book yet"

Library borrowing times are as follows:

Thursday: All other classes 

If you require a Library bag they are available through School Locker for $18.70.

Date Claimers for Sporting events for Term 1:

Wed 19th Feb - District Swimming Carnival to be held at the Caloundra Pool

Thurs 26th March - Cross Country Carnival

2025 Lunchtime Play Equipment

All P-6 students will have the opportunity to borrow, use and return a variety of sporting equipment at play break. Year level/ classroom teachers will oversee the equipment and students will be responsible for being a SAFE, RESPECTFUL and ACTIVE LEARNER and all times.

If you have any questions with regards to sport, please phone Ms Murphy at the school on 5436 5555 or email jlmur1@eq.edu.au

Janelle Murphy (HPE Teacher)

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

ST VINCENT DE PAUL CHRISTMAS HAMPER COLLECTION

Thank to you staff and families who donated items for our Annual Christmas Hamper Drive last year.  We received a wonderful array of items to donate to St Vincent de Paul who were extremely grateful.  These items were distributed to families in need in our local area.

P&C Meetings

Our first meeting will be held on Monday 16th February (week 4, term 1) at 6pm in the library. Please come along and join us to hear about plans we may have for the year ahead. It’s also a great opportunity to meet a few other parents, particularly if you are new to the school.

Fundraising

We have several plans for small fundraising activities throughout the year, keep an eye on Audiri & Facebook for information. As dates are confirmed, we will advise our families as early as possible.

All fundraising done through the P&C goes towards facilities and resources for the school for every student to benefit.

Activities & Events

Thank you to the families who came along to help to beautify the school entrance the weekend before we returned to school. What a lovely transformation, and a special thank you to Jo for organising this.

We are seeking a new volunteer tuckshop convenor for this term and possibly beyond. If you feel you would like to know more about the role, please contact pandc@beerwahss.eq.edu.au or drop into the office to leave your details. We will provide full support with training, menus, shopping etc.

While we keep our fingers crossed for a new convenor, we are offering sushi one day a week. Please keep an eye on Audiri & our Facebook page for details. All ordering will be on Qkr only, and strict deadlines will be advised as we will order from an external supplier.

New school uniforms are available from The School Locker in Maroochydore.

If you are uncertain of the size you require, one of each size of polo shirt and dress will be available in school to try on. Appointments need to be made in advance, please email janie.bssuniformshop@gmail.com to arrange an appointment.

The P&C have some second-hand uniforms available for sale at drastically reduced prices depending on the condition. Contact Janie at the above email address if you would like to have a look at what’s available.

Did you know that Qkr! Can be accessed from any web browser? If you prefer to use a computer or tablet or unable to download the app, simply go to https://qkr-store.qkrschool.com/store/#/home and set up your Qkr! account to access tuckshop ordering.  

Kandoo Joeys is open to all families with before-school-aged children. We open every Wednesday morning from 9.00am-11.00am from Weeks 2-9 of the school Term. You will find us in G Block (Where our After School Care program is held or ask at the office and they will show you were Playgroup is held). Bring along a hat and some morning tea for your little one and come and join in the fun and social connections as your children learn through play. 

For more information contact  playgroup@beerwahss.eq.edu.au  

Our Outside School Hours program at Beerwah State School is operated by Jabiru. 

Jabiru's service nurtures children, helping them grow, learn and thrive before and after school, during holidays and on student free days.

You can look forward to:

- Fun programs and activities

- Fresh food prepared on site

- State of the art play and learning equipment

- Experienced staff who deliver the best of care

 Jabiru's contact details are 32690044 or beerwah@jabiru.org.au

Concerns regarding young children with difficult and defiant behaviours? The Management of Young Children Program (MYCP) is available to support you.

The MYCP is supported by Beerwah and Landsborough State Schools (therefore no cost for these families) and is a practical and individualised behaviour support program for parents and carers of young children aged 2½ to 7 years and their families. It is a well-established and evidence based early intervention program targeting children who display defiant or oppositional behaviour with the aim of reducing such problematic behaviours in primary school and beyond.

For more information or interest in participating in the program, please see the school website link or contact the Landsborough State School office 5436 2777.

Our School has our own Skoolbag iPhone and Android App to help us communicate more effectively with our school Parent/Student community. Download the Skoolbag App to receive short messages, reminders and alerts. Parents will also be able to use eForms for absentee notes and change of details.

Click here to visit Skoolbag website