Beerwah State School

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to 2025! I would especially like to welcome our new parents/carers and students to our wonderful school. Welcome to Mrs Johnson who will be team teaching with Mrs Horton in 1A and also Ms Merwood who will be team teaching with Mrs Marks in 5/6B. 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. We were only 7 students away from making a 10th class. Unfortunately, we didn’t make this by Day 8. The good news is that our current 9 class structure will remain and there will be no class changes. Our nine classes for 2025 are Prep A, Prep/1, 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 4/5, 5/6A & 5/6B.

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 Plan

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 19, 2025 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. Last year, I was concerned about some of our girls wearing short bike pants instead of the required school culottes, dresses or pants. This does not look good, especially when a long shirt is worn over the top and does not portray a good image of our school to the community. Please ensure your student is also wearing the correct school hat 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 10 February, we will hold our annual Student Induction Ceremony, where our 2025 student leaders received 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.

Think U Know

During Term 1, all classes will participate in a 45minute presentation regarding cyber-safety called Think U Know. Think U Know is an evidence-based education program led by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), delivered nationally in partnership with police and industry partners to prevent online child sexual exploitation.

The content of the lessons for Prep to Year 6 students, are age appropriate and designed by the Australian Federal Police. These sessions will be presented by Sarah Harding from the Queensland Police Service.

The program also helps parents, carers and teachers get a better understanding of the types of things that children SEE, SAY and DO online.

We will be holding a parent/carer information session regarding this program on Wednesday 12th February at 5pm in our Library for those that are interested in learning a little more about this program. The parent presentation will run for approximately 45mins. We do ask that parents do not bring their children to this parent session due to the content.

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. From Term 1 2025 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!

School Review

Our school will be participating in a School Review from 4th to 6th of March, 2025. Reviews play an important part in how the Department of Education supports school improvement. They provide schools with independent feedback, tailored to their context and needs.

All Queensland state schools undergo a review at least once every 4 years.

Through meaningful engagement and input from school staff, students and communities, reviews involve the evaluation of evidence and practice.

Reviews are conducted by experienced educators trained in the use of the School Improvement Tool, an internationally recognised framework for reviewing practices that contribute to school improvement. Review teams generally consist of 2 to 4 reviewers.

Schools are not ranked or given a performance rating. They are provided with a comprehensive report detailing the key findings and recommended improvement strategies for consideration.

Feedback from parents and the community is an important part of school reviews, with everyone encouraged to have their say.

Conversations with a review team member can be in person or over the phone. All feedback remains confidential.

Reviewers endeavour to connect with parents and carers before or after school around school grounds and car parks. If you would like to participate in the review by talking to one of the reviewers, please contact the school office.

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

The Department of Education has implemented a new mobile phone and smart watch policy across all schools in QLD.

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

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 Terms we are teaching the learning intent of the units (what they are learning about). 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 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.

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 19 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 Monday 2 February at 9:00 am.

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

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

When you click FINISH, your interview timetable will be emailed to you automatically. If you do not receive your email immediately – Check your junk mail folder AND make sure you have spelled your email address correctly.

This year our specialist teachers will also be available for parent-teacher interviews. Senor Jose (languages) and Miss Eastley (P-4 media arts and Health) will all be available at 3:10 – 4:30. There is no need to book in for a specialist teacher. Miss Maxwell will be available for parent-teacher interviews in her classroom on Tuesday 18 February at 3:10 – 4:30.

If you need any information, please contact the office.

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

Beerwah State School

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 Facebook page for more Celebrations and what's happening at our School.

Beerwah State School Facebook page

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

BORROWING;

Wednesday      4A,   4/5,  5/6B - return books Tuesday

Thursday Prep/1, 2A, 3A - return books Wednesday

If you require a Library bag they are available through the Uniform Shop for $18.00.

Welcome back,

2025 School, Inter-School and Glasshouse District Sports Dates are listed below

*Glasshouse District Trial Dates and Information will be sent out separately as information is received.

2025 Inter-school Sport

There will be opportunities for students in Years 4, 5 & 6 to participate in Inter school Sport throughout the year. Students are encouraged to try a new sport (no experience necessary). However, their overall safety will be the determining factor.

2025 Representative Sport

There will be opportunities for students 10 -12 years of age to attend District and Regional Trials for various sports throughout the year through the Representative School Sports Pathway.

Please be aware that only students who are skilled and experienced players in their chosen sport should attend the trial/s.

All trials (including Boys Netball which was introduced in 2024) will be advertised and communicated to the school community as they arise, and interested students will then be required to COLLECT, COMPLETE and SUBMIT a different nomination form for each sport, PRIOR to the trial/s.

NO FORM = NO TRIAL (students will NOT be allowed to participate).

Please note – NEW ON-LINE PROCESSES for all Glasshouse DISTRICT and REGIONAL events will be in place this year to maintain consistency with other Sunshine Coast districts, including both Consent /Permissions AND uniform purchases. Student Information kits provided to students at time of selection will provide step by step process to complete all team member requirements.

Information can also be accessed on the following websites:

Glasshouse District 10-12 years Trial Calendar – sunshinesport.eq.edu.au/Glasshouse District

Sunshine Coast Regional Trial Calendar - sunshinesport.eq.edu.au

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)

The start of a new school year

Welcome back to school for all our existing families and a warm welcome to new families.

Our small country school has an active P&C Association but we NEED YOUR HELP!!!

We are all volunteers and do what we can but with the end of last year, some of our families moved on so we would like to invite all parents and carers to come to find out what we do & how we do it. We also seek new ideas and suggestions.

P&C Meetings

We hold meetings on the third Monday of the month at 6pm in the library and everyone is welcome to attend. We try to wrap them up within an hour. Our first meeting for 2025 is Monday 17th February (week 4).

New parents, carers or community members often come to our meetings, just to see how they run and listen to what we talk about. It’s the perfect place to find out what plans the school has for learning and facilities, and what events we are planning. There is no pressure to join the P&C and it’s a great place to meet new people.

Keep an eye on the newsletter and Facebook for reminders.

Volunteering

The P&C is a volunteer run organisation, and if you’ve never given volunteering a go, what better way to begin. There are so many proven benefits to volunteering: health, social, upskilling, sharing, gaining a sense of belonging to name a few.

If everyone plays a small part we can achieve great things.

The P&C Association are an approved volunteer organization with Centrelink (Services Australia) so if you need to complete volunteering hours, the school is a great option. This can be extended to grandparents and other friends, they will need to apply for a Blue Card to volunteer in the school which is an easy process we can assist with. Contact us by email and we can arrange to work out how we can help each other.

Facebook Page

We try to keep our Facebook page very active with all our notices here along with the Audiri app.

If you haven’t already jumped onto our Facebook page, you should. It’s a great place to see what’s coming up, what volunteers are needed & helpful reminders in case you missed the notification. We’ll also share our tuckshop specials and any meal deal information, so if you don’t see the posts, you might miss out!

It’s also the easiest place to get in touch with P&C.

Just find our page and like us to start following. BSS P&C Facebook page

Events & Fundraising

Easter 2025

Our amazing Easter show will take place on Easter Saturday, 19th April 2025 which is the last weekend of the school holidays.

If you have attended in the past, you will know what a hugely successful event it is, and great fun for everyone. If you haven’t been before, mark it on the calendar as it’s a fantastic day not to be missed, and a major fundraiser for the school.

If you would like to be involved in planning, or if your business is interested in sponsorship of part of the event, please get in touch with Carolyn on 0404 581058 or via email to pandc@beerwahss.eq.edu.au. The advertising opportunities are far reaching and very cost effective – social media, tourism websites, radio mentions, digital school sign, flyers, posters in all local businesses, plus more – it’s a fantastic way to boost your business and support our school. Get in touch today!

Entertainment Book

Don’t forget to keep an eye on our Facebook page for offers for the Entertainment membership. There are continuous bonuses, and we get 20% of the purchase price for our fundraising. Have a look at their website: www.entertainmentbook.com.au for current offers.

Recycling Programs

Let’s group together to try and make small changes to help our planet. By recycling as many items as possible, we can reduce the amount of landfill.

We are registered collectors for TerraCycle for those hard to recycle items.

Please collect:

· empty toothpaste tubes

· old toothbrushes

· pens, highlighters, texters and markers that don’t work

· Glad (or similar) packaging – zip-lock bags or cling wrap.

We collect these items to send to TerraCycle who will turn them into useful products. If you’d like to know more, please have a look at their website www.terracycle.com.au.

Donations can be dropped off to school, collection boxes are available in the library.

The school is also registered to collect drink cans and bottles through Containers for Change. There are bins throughout the school so you can drop off your recycling as you bring your child to school.

Book Club

The book club will resume for 2025 soon and your child will bring a brochure home. The best way to order is online at www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP all books are delivered to the school and distributed to each child. If you would prefer to order as gifts, ensure you select that option and your items will be available for collection from the office.

An extra bonus is that the school receives 15% of all order values to purchase books for our library. Books are such a wonderful addition to any child’s life and there are some amazing prices in the book club.

We are hugely grateful to Sarah and her team to continue running the tuckshop as volunteers this year. They did a fantastic job in 2024 to provide nutritious meals to our children.

This term we will be travelling the world with our tastebuds! Each week a special from a particular country or region will be available.

The weekly special will be sent out on Audiri each week, along with updates on Facebook. Ordering must close at 6pm sharp on Qkr each Thursday as our volunteers need to shop and prepare. Orders will be prepared for first break Friday. Ordering is only through the Qkr! app, and must be before the cut-off.

If you are able to assist in the tuckshop in 2025, we need your help! It’s not a job for one person, and even 20 minutes will be a great assistance.

If you have ideas or suggestions for meals or inclusions, please get in touch. pandc@beerwahss.eq.edu.au

School uniforms are available from The School Locker in Maroochydore.

Ordering is online or in-store, it’s so simple and convenient. Plus, by setting up your free Student Advantage Membership online, you will access special members pricing where applicable.

If you don’t have this information, look at the school website for details.

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.

If you have school polo shirts and dresses that are too small, or if your child is leaving school, please drop in your uniforms to the school office as we will happily re-sell to another family who can use them.

With limited volunteers and fundraising opportunities, this is one avenue that will help all families, and the P&C Association.

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 school payments, uniform shop, and tuckshop ordering.  

Kandoo Joeys is open to all families with before-school-aged children. We open every Thursday morning from 9.00am-11.00am from Weeks 2-9 of the school Term. You will find us in J Block, next to the Admin Block. 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  

Helping Hands provides quality before and after school care. This service forms strong, collaborative ties with the school, children, families, and the local community; to ensure the needs and interests of every child and family are supported. We provide an environment in which children feel safe and have fun. Afternoon tea is included.

We are located in D Block which is next to the Senior oval. For the children’s safety it is a requirement that you park in the allocated staff car park and use the footpaths to walk to and from the Centre. The car park will be open in the morning 6:30 to 7:30 and afternoon 5:00 to 6:00. Outside of these times, you will need to use the normal school carpark located on Old Gympie Rd. Children must be supervised at all times by an adult.

If you have any questions please phone Helping Hands Co-ordinator Sharon on: 0448 083 043, or click on the link below.

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