Term 4

Welcome back to the last school term for 2024. Once in a blue moon our school term is for 11 weeks, instead of the standard ten-week term. This term is one of those – an 11-week term. While we will have finished teaching and assessing by the end of Week 10 students will still be expected to come to school until the start of the Summer Vacation commencing Saturday 14 December. As per previous years, Semester 2 Report Cards will be emailed home on the last day of school. Unfortunately, we will be unable to provide Semester 2 Report Cards, prior to this time.

On Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending our school’s P&C meeting. If you have never attended one, can I encourage you to come along. I have been very impressed at well-run the meetings are and how tightly the agenda is managed, thus ensuring the meetings are focussed and as short as can be. Congratulations to the P&C executive and other P&C representatives for the amazing job that you do. I’m looking forward to coming along to the Trivia Night on Saturday 19 October because if it has been like any other of the P&C events I have experienced so far, it will amazing!

We have had an exciting start to this term with the Jacaranda trees being in bloom and many of our 2002 Prep students returning to have an end of Year 12 photo taken under one of them. Our current Prep students have left the school grounds and ventured out to Moreton Bay on their first major excursion. Swimming has taken off with a splash along with the wonder Summer storms (one managed to create an extra swimming pool on our oval. We currently have a lot of nesting birds and a koala has even been sighted in one of our trees. We are looking forward to seeing many more koalas; hopefully a bit closer, so they don’t just look like a blob (as described by one of our students).

Please continue to let us know if your family’s circumstances change for enrolment in 2025, so we can take this into account. Prep classes are almost full, so if you haven’t already enrolled your child for Prep in 2025 and have other children at this school or live in-catchment please do so urgently.

Kind regards,

Jane Tuckett

School Principal

Please see below regarding upcoming activities for Term 4.

Business Manager

To support implementation of the updated curriculum, the Department of Education in collaboration with P&Cs Queensland have provided an online reading session for parents and carers to support reading at home.  We would encourage parents to view the following recording of the Twilight Reading Session for Parents and Carers. This 16minute video outlines Camp Hill’s commitment to teaching reading and what parents can do at home to support beginning readers.  There is also a fridge poster for your information.

The information below was featured in our Term 1 newsletter, and I'm excited to share it again, as it highlights a vital aspect of our teaching philosophy, that we truly value, at Camp Hill.

How children learn to read:

Learning to read is a process that needs step-by-step teaching and plenty of practise at school and at home. Unlike walking or talking, reading is not a skill that we learn naturally — everyone needs to be taught how to read.

Reading requires two very important skills:

• decoding (reading) the words on the page
• making meaning from the words, sentences and paragraphs that are read.

For children to learn how to decode words, they need to understand how sounds and letters link together. They are taught that:

• words can be broken up into sounds (the word ‘cat’ is made up of 3 sounds: c-a-t) and that sounds can be blended to form words (the sounds c-a-t blended, forms the word ‘cat’)
• the sounds in words can be represented by letters or groups of letters.

As children develop their understanding of letter-sound correspondences and apply this knowledge to reading words and texts, they learn more complex English spellings.

• The same sound can be represented by different letters; the words ‘play’, ‘rain’ and ‘stage’ all contain the sound /ay/ but the spelling is different in each one.
• The same letter can represent different sounds; the letter ‘c’ can represent a ‘k’ sound as in ‘cat’, or an ‘s’ sound as in ‘race’.
• Small parts of words can have a meaning all their own; in the word ‘walked’, the ‘-ed’ tells us that the walk has already happened — it marks past tense.
• Children practise their word reading skills by reading decodable texts that contain only the letter-sound correspondences children have been taught.
• As children develop their decoding skills and their reading becomes more automatic, they will move from reading simple decodable texts to authentic texts. Authentic texts are any texts that are read for enjoyment or learning and that support word reading, language development and engagement.

Children develop their language skills through the language they hear and read. In the early stages of reading instruction, while children are developing their decoding skills, it is very important that they are read to often, so they hear lots of new words and learn about new things that they may not yet be able to read about themselves.

Parents play an important role in helping children learn to read by both:

• listening to your child read aloud to practise decoding words
• reading aloud to your child to build their understanding of language and literacy.

SAFETY SIGNAGE

With the range of new construction and maintenance occurring around the school at the moment you will see a range of safety signage and roped off areas (using bunting with flags). Please continue to follow this signage and if the opportunity arises, discuss with your children what they mean and why we use the. At this time of the year we may rope off areas due to nesting birds trying to protect their young, so it is important to note that sometimes it might not be obvious why an area is roped off but we only do this for safety reasons.

QParents – now available for all year levels

Parents, we hope you are enjoying the access to student information and functionality provided by the QParents app. Thanks especially to the parents who are using the app to record absentee information. If you haven’t already, register using the invitation code that has been emailed to you.

Parents who have gone into the "Low Document Approval" please head into either office to finalise your approval, bringing in relevant documents.

QParents allows parents to connect instantly with our school to access and manage their child’s student information, including:

• Attendance and absence details
• Academic report cards
• Viewing and paying invoices
• Viewing and updating personal student details
• Coming soon - Providing consent for excursions and incursions

Updating Student Information

During the school year, there can be occasions when it is important that we make immediate contact with parents. We are unable to do this if our information is not current. Please help us to provide care and consideration for your child by updating your family records whenever a change occurs.

• If there is a change in your emergency contact phone number, email, or other emergency contact persons details.
• If you change your address.
• If any significant changes occur with regard to your child/children's health or medical details e.g. Health Plan or medication.
• If there are any changes regarding custody or access to your child/children.
• If you feel we should know of any other changes which relate to your child.

Reporting Absent Student

It is important that you contact the school before 9:30 am if your child is absent for any reason or will be late to school. This includes absences for a school event where the students make their own way to the event.

QParents

Website: Our School > Absences

email admin: admin@camphillipss.eq.edu.au 

Please state your child's name, class, the date and the reason for the absence.

This year saw the return of the annual Year 6 Canberra trip. It was certainly filled with lots of excitement. Ninety-three Year 6 students and seven staff left for Sydney on the first day of Term 4. After arriving at Sydney airport, we made our way to our coaches and began our week filled with non-stop fun!

Our first stop on Monday was the Sydney Opera House. Students and staff enjoyed lunch on the steps of the Opera House, and had a guided tour where they discovered the history of the building and explored many of the performance theatres. We then hit the road on our way to Canberra. The group arrived at our accommodation in time to put our luggage in our rooms before enjoying our first dinner together. An early night in preparation for what was to come!

On Tuesday morning we visited Parliament House, where students were given a tour and participated in a role play as members of the Senate. The day continued with the parliamentary theme with a visit to the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House and the Australian Electoral Education Centre. Students participated in a secret ballot vote where, with preferential voting, it was determined that peaches and apples were the winning candidates with several of the groups. After dinner, the group took a guided tour of the National Dinosaur Museum, learning some very interesting facts about these prehistoric creatures.

The group was up early on Wednesday morning and on our way to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for a guided tour. Students were fortunate to meet several AIS athletes who led the tour before heading to the Sportex room for some sporting fun. A quick visit to the AIS shop before separating into two groups for what would be our busiest day. Students explored the National Portrait Gallery with iPads in hand where they critiqued the artwork. They participated in some orienteering around the National Arboretum of Australia. This was followed by an historical tour of the Canberra Glassworks where students had the opportunity to watch artists working with glass. A final stop for a tour of the National Museum of Australia before heading back to the accommodation for dinner. As if this was not enough for the day, we headed out for a few hours roaming the many levels of Questacon. Some braved the giant slide and the earthquake zone, whilst others explored the many exciting displays Questacon has on offer.

Another early morning on Thursday exploring the world of tiny displays and beautiful flowers at Cockington Green Gardens. Students visited the Royal Australian Mint where they saw Titan and Robbie the robots in action. The group came together to participate in the ‘We Will Remember Them’ tour of the Australian War Memorial. Students also participated in the Anzac Parade Education program, learning about several of the memorials on Anzac Pde. There was also a visit to check out the view of Canberra from the Mt Ainslie Lookout. We returned to our accommodation to pack ready for our departure the next day before dinner and a night of trivia, where the winning team was decided by the question ‘Who was Australia’s only female Prime Minister?’.

Our final stop in Canberra on Friday morning was to Lennox Gardens and the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell. It was then time to make the long trip back to Sydney airport for out flight back to Brisbane. We were greeted at the gate in Brisbane by parents eager to see their children and hear all about the adventures. There were certainly many stories to share.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the National Capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion, the Australian Government contributes funding of $90 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards the costs. This rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

It is great to report that guides, officials and general members of the public regularly commented on the exemplary behaviour and manners of the children. Well done to all the Year 6 students and staff who attended this year’s trip.

Our Year 3 classes entered the local Wild at Art competition run by the Australian Conservation Foundation this year. Each class created a collaborative artwork to showcase threatened species of plants or animals in Australia.

3A The Last Feather – Endangered Birds

3B Go Slow, Habitats Below - Dugongs

3C Guardians of the Trees - Koalas

3D From Russia With Love – Eastern Curlews

3E ‘Mixo’ – Giant Bard Frog (Mixophyesiteratus)

The judges were unable to choose a winner from our five amazing pieces so the school was awarded a limited edition print of a dugong and a selection of nature books to recognise all of the students’ hard work. A small number of students also entered the individual competition.

The class artworks will be on a rotational display in the Senior Campus Library for the remainder of the term. Mrs de San Miguel has chosen books, related to each of the artworks, to add information about that particular environmental issue.

The artworks will also be on display at the Carindale Library from 23 October to 6 November.

Choral Honours

This week our school sent some exceptional students to the Metropolitan Choral Honours program. There are only 100 students invited to attend this program each year and our school had five students accepted. This is a remarkable achievement and something of which we should be proud. These choristers participated in challenging choral programs, and massed choir events culminating in a concert at the conclusion of the program. Congratulations to the following Year 6 students:

Charlotte P
Hannah M
Lynley B
Jasper W
Rebecca F

Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Next week 70 of our Camp Hill senior music students will be attending a concert given by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. These students are those dedicated musicians who are involved in the Instrumental and Choral programs at school. This is an excellent opportunity to observe musicians performing in a professional setting for a large audience. This is always an excellent event and inspires our school musicians to greater heights.

Instrumental Music Program

As we head toward our annual Celebration of Music evening, it is important that all students involved in the Instrumental Music Program – Strings and Band – attend every lesson with all of the equipment necessary for success. This includes music and instruments. Our music evening is at the beginning of November so every moment counts.

Celebration of Music

On Wednesday, 6 November, our school will have the opportunity to showcase our amazing music programs in our annual Celebration of Music evening. All students playing or singing in a school music ensemble will be involved. More details to follow, but please note the evening is fast approaching.

Performance Uniform

Our school is very fortunate to have a diverse and robust music program. When our musicians perform there is a performance shirt that our musicians wear as part of their uniform. These shirts are available from the uniform shop. They are worn with the navy-blue school shorts/skort, black shoes and white socks. If your child is a member of any of these groups and you need a music shirt, please visit the lovely ladies in the uniform shop for assistance.

Library Matters - Reading Matters!

Parents are invited to come along to the Junior Library before school to borrow books to read over the week. Each family may borrow five additional books. We have books for all ages – from board books for babies, through to novels for primary grades. Additional books for upper primary students can be selected online and collected at the Junior Library also. Ask our friendly Library staff about this when you next visit. Our Camp Hill State Infants and Primary School Library Catalogue is available 24/7 at https://camphillipss.softlinkhosting.com.au/oliver/home/news

Having some extra stories at home to read together will allow you and your child to read for joy and fun. The goal of learning to read is for your child to read these books independently. Learning to read is hard for some children, and they need to experience the joys of reading to help them persist with this ongoing learning journey. Sharing and discussing rich authentic texts; listening to audio books, digital stories, Storybox videos; are all ways of immersing your child in literature.

Shared reading builds student’s vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension skills. It is a vital part of learning to read that can be a fun part of your day. Older siblings can also assist with reading to younger children. Just because your child is developing their independent reading skills doesn’t mean they won’t still benefit from and enjoy listening to stories.

If you need help choosing books to read please come to the Junior Library before school from 8:30am and our Library staff will help find the right book for you!

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Our certificates have arrived and will be presented to our Reading Champions soon!! Well done readers!! We will also be doing a random prize draw for our challenge participants.

Book Club Issue 7

Issue 7 of Book Club is one of the biggest issues of the year – perfect for Christmas shopping! If you would like to have your books kept at school for collection – away from prying eyes - there is a GIFT function that you can select when completing your order. Books will be kept at school office for your collection. There are some free book offers included on the back of brochure or in the LOOP app. Please finalise your orders by 20th October. If you have a $5 Promo Code from Issue 6 it can be redeemed on this order.

PREP and YEAR 2.

TEACHING RESILIENCE

It is important to have conversations with your child about what it means to be resilient. Sometimes it can be after or before an event where your child is upset. This could be times such as not getting invited to a party, having to take a test or feeling they been unfairly chastised by a teacher, parent or sibling.

The conversation can also occur at more restful times such as when your child is getting ready for bed, in the car, or on a walk.

Ricky Resilience and Rosie Resilience are the characters from the ‘You Can Do It’ program who teach the children resilience through puppets, songs and stories.

The children learn that when we are faced with a challenging person or situation, it is important to be aware of how we feel. If the emotion is strong, we try to stay as calm as we can and if we do get upset, we try not to stay that way for too long as we try to engage the skills we have learnt to calm down.

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This is important in learning to read, write and spell. Students need to be able to hear sounds in isolation, in any part of a word, before being asked to write and/or read these sounds.

Here are some examples for revision.

The word ‘cat’ has 3 sounds c-a-t. The word ‘coat’ has 3 sounds c-oa-t.

The word ‘eight’ has 2 sounds eigh- t. The word ‘autumn’ has 4 sounds au-t-u-mn.

Many games can be played with young children to assist them to hear the sounds in words. The child listens to the sounds and blends them together to hear the whole word.

“I spy with my little eye a ch/air; a t/oy; a b/oo/k.”

“Simon says put your hands on your n/o/se; your f/i/n/g/er; your l/e/g.”

“Can you please go and get me a piece of b/r/ea/d; a g/a/me; a l/ea/f; a f/ea/th/er?”

All of these games can be played without the knowledge of letter names as phonemic awareness is an auditory skill that doesn’t require letters or words written down.

How many sounds are in these words?

Please look at the bottom of the school newsletter for the answers to this quiz.

Triva Night – Back to the 90’s Trivia & Party Night

Tomorrow night is the best night out in the suburbs! We are raising funds towards the much-needed new readers and you can have fun while doing it!

It’s not too late if you haven’t had a chance to order your tickets online, they close at 6pm tonight! Get your team together and purchase at the door!

The raffles are going to be amazing, the music, trivia and dancing! How can you miss this.

Thank you to Carina Leagues Club for sponsoring our night and to Patrick Ivey Harcourts Property Centre for sponsoring our raffle bundles for the evening.

We are truly grateful for the wonderful donations from

Colour Explosion Run4Fun is back!

Friday 1st November – starting approximately 1:30pm

It is back! The water truck, tunnels, lots of colour and the Foam Party!!!!

It’s way easier this year…. Only 1 link to register for your fundraising:

https://myprofilepage.com.au – but you get to choose whether prizes or donate to:
- Smith Family for reading support
- OzHarvest for providing meals
- Carbon Neutral – Tree Planting
- Great Barrier Reef Foundation – coral planting & turtle protection

Chances to win:
• Highest Overall Fundraiser for the school - $100 Athletes Foot Voucher
• Highest Class Fundraising from each campus – Pizza Party
• Raise over $100 and go into the draw to Slime a Teacher (2 winners)

Again, parents are invited to attend, and we will need some volunteers for on the day. Volunteer schedule is online now, so click here to have fun during it all!

We are running a “Parents Race” again! If you wish to participate, click here to register!

On the day, make sure your child brings a white shirt for the Fun Run! They can wear these to school for the day, so no uniforms needed for the Friday. They will be covered in non-toxic, high quality colour powder from head to toe, with a splash of foam to finish! They will also need a water bottle and their hat.

Check your child’s bag for the booklet and covering letter.

P&C Date Savers for Term 4

Saturday 19th October – Trivia Night – Back to the 90’s Trivia & Party Night
Friday 1st November – Colour Run4Fun
Monday 4th November – 2024 Christmas Raffle begins

Just a few reminders for the beginning of Term 4.

• Place your Flexischools orders early. Don't leave it until the last minute.
• Birthday orders require 7 days notice.
• You can cancel your Flexischools order yourself before 8am.
• Click on the link below to volunteer.
Check out the new Summer Specials on Flexischools.

Year 2 Tuckshop Visits have started. Emails from your class teacher should have come home along with what can be purchased. Please discuss this with your children and only send up to $3.00 in a zip-up bag. Sometimes the children can get to the front of the line and be overwhelmed by choice and how much they can buy.

Click the link below to sign up.
https://volunteersignup.org/444JA

Sharyn – Tuckshop Convenor
Tel: 07 3900 9429 Email: tuckshop@camphillpandc.com.au

Prep Uniform Fittings

If you have a little person who has been offered a place in Prep at our school for 2025 you should have been advised that the bookings are now open for uniform shop fitting appointments. This is a one-on-one chance to help your little person (and yourself!) get all organised to start their new schooling adventure. These appointments are available during November and December (until end of term) including a couple of Saturdays and again in late January just before school starts.

https://camphillipss.eq.edu.au/calendar-and-news/news/prep-2025-uniform-bookings

These appointments are needed as fittings cannot be accommodated in normal uniform shop opening hours. Purchasing hats and bags only however is fine as these items don't need sizing.

Don't forget online orders can also be made for these items - please order under older sibling name and class and these orders will be delivered as usual for them to bring home.

Please email me if you have any questions.

www.schoolshoponline.net.au/camphillipss

NORMAL UNIFORM SHOP TRADING HOURS

Tuesday and Thursday:  8:15 – 9:30 am
(under D Block, Senior Campus)

Kerri Rook - Uniform Shop Convenor
Tel: 07 3900 9328
Email: uniforms@camphillpandc.com.au 

A reminder for families that the date of release for 2025 enrolments will be Monday the 28th of October 2024 from 9AM.

Some Key Reminders:

- 2024 bookings do not carry over into 2025 which means that families current bookings will not roll over onto 2025. All existing families must complete a 2025 enrolment form to secure care for 2025.

- We have had wait lists in the past, so it is highly recommended that if families know they will require care for 2025 that they complete this form as soon as possible.

- Have with you important information like CRN numbers, emergency contact details, Medicare numbers etc to make completing the form quicker and easier.

- Ensure that your account is up to date. Bookings will not be secured unless your account is up to date. Families are required, as always, to check their weekly statements to ensure that their account is paid. If families are unsure please contact the service as soon as possible.

- Families will receive two emails on enrolment day. In previous years, some families have experienced delivery issues with the OSHC enrolments forms distributed via our email system. Distributing forms in two ways will hopefully ensure everyone has access to forms in a timely manner. The form will be sent as a editable PDF document.

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER IN CASE OF DELIVERY ISSUES.

Christmas Closure Period:

This year’s closure period for the Christmas and New Years break will be from the 23/12/2025 to the 1/1/2025. The last Vacation Care day will be Friday the 20/12/2024 and the first day of operation in 2025 will be Thursday the 02/01/2025. Vacation Care booking forms for the December/January period will be released 4 weeks prior to the start of the holidays.

Thanks from your team at OSHC

Registrations are now open for the Camp Hill “Crocs" Swim Club Season 24/25 www.camphillswim.club

The Camp Hill Amateur Swim Club, known as the “Crocs” are a family friendly Club. We offer weekly Friday night Club Nights in Term 4 and Term 1, along with 4 Carnivals each season. Come along and join us for a fun night where swimmers race to improve their own times and hang out with their friends, whilst families can relax and enjoy our BBQ and Canteen offerings. It’s a great night out for the whole family. We encourage family participation and parents are asked to help the evenings run smoothly by volunteering their time over the season. For further information please refer to the Club Website www.camphillswim.club

For Learn to Swim and Squad Training please contact Rollason’s Swim School at rollasoninswim@gmail.com or 0450 954 424 (Abbey).

Step Up Quiz Answers – How many sounds in these words?