Weir State School Newsletter

Welcome To This Edition - It’s been another huge week at our great school. The student behaviour has been positive for the majority and our teachers are working hard to ensure quality engagement is happening in every classroom. Classroom make ups are now finalised and we are set for a great run to terms end. Please remember if your child is absent to inform our office as soon as possible and if there are issues getting to school, we can help. School admin will be calling and paying home visits to those students who have been away without explanation for more than 3 days. Please remember unexplained absences are not acceptable and all absences require follow up with a text message from our school message service and if need be, a home visit from admin…remember it’s cool to be at school ……learning happens when kids are at school.

SCHOOL EXPECTATIONS - As our school year is now in full swing, I would like to reaffirm the clear and consistent message of HIGH EXPECTATIONS of behaviour and learning. Each week on parade the messages come straight from me as the Principal and in every classroom our students and teachers discuss how students can conduct themselves to be safe, respectful and responsible young learners.  Please understand that our school operates within a strong philosophy against physical aggression, swearing, bullying or continued refusal to follow instructions. It is important clear, consistent boundaries and high expectations regarding behaviour and learning are continually reminded at school and at home. Doing so ensures all students understand their responsibilities and their role being a student in our school community. We come together at school however we stay a community of learners. Even in the early stages of this term our behaviour data is clearly showing improvement which means a more engaging teaching environment and better learning in every classroom.

STUDENT LEADERS - Congratulations to all of our newly inducted school leaders who were part of our induction ceremony last Friday. It was wonderful to have so many students be part of the event and now part of our student leadership group to help with our schools improvement journey…..well done!

P&C AGM - Our P&C AGM was held last week and I would like to congratulate our P & C elect:

·       President: Mr Jason Smart

·       Vice President: Mr Adam Hoffman

·       Treasurer: Mr Chris Taylor

·       Secretary: Mrs Kylie Canavan

Congratulations and thanks to all executive members for giving their time to help our wonderful school

2021 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS - Our number one priority is to ensure our school continues to develop, improve and have every student loving coming to school and feel proud of being part of Weir State School and our STRONG, SMART and CONNECTED culture. 2021 will be a HUGE year for our school with plenty of improvements as follows:

·       Year 2 block fully refurbished

·       Tuckshop fully refurbished

·       6 FOOT perimeter security fence

·       $100 000 worth of Infinity Laptop computers to take our school to a 1:2 school (450 digital devices schoolwide)

·       New junior playground donated by our P & C

·       New Prep Shed donated by our P & C

·       New look to our sports day and sports program inclusive of brand new sports equipment, marquees and banners

·       Further additions to our NAIDOC event making it a ‘strong and connected ‘ cultural event

·       Complete replacement of music equipment for the instrumental program

·       Further work to grounds and gardens throughout our school

The above improvements will further establish Weir State School within our community as a school of choice …simply exciting !!!

SCHOOL  SPORT COSTS  - Interschool sport is just around the corner and our students are full of expectation about being part of interschool.  Unfortunately buses are not free and there will be a charge for travel each week. We have got the cost down to as low as possible and our school is subsidising half of the cost from school budget.  Please remember being part of interschool sport is an important part of our school program and I would encourage every parent to ensure their children take the opportunity to be part of it. Thanks for your understanding and support in sending your kids to school sport

THIS WEEKS PROVERB – “A volunteer is worth twenty pressed men”

Thanks for reading

Mr B - Principal

Community Connect Day… Thuringowa High is holding a Community Connect Day this Thursday 25 February. This event is being held with the aim being to promote and build community engagement and relationships. Student Wellbeing and Mental Health are the focus for the day. Being a feeder school for our friends down at ‘Gowa’, Weir will be holding a stall at the event, showcasing to the community all the awesome programs/initiatives on offer at our school. There will plenty of other stalls there on the day, with community support agencies, food vans, coffee cart, entertainment and more.

Our Rule of the Week… Students come to school to learn and deserve to feel safe. This is either inside or outside the classroom. We encourage students at Weir to…

Be Safe

And… ‘Keep hands, feet and objects to themselves…’

If we encourage students to keep their hands and feet to themselves and interact in a safe and respectful manner, they will feel safe and therefore more comfortable… This results in a more enjoyable schooling experience with learning and success more likely to occur. Further to Mr B’s message… Thank you so much for your support around our zero-tolerance approach to physical misconduct at Weir. We have come a long way in the last couple of years and the High Expectations that have been set for our students, has seen a dramatic decrease in these types of incidents occurring. Well done Weir

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Weir State School Leaders – 2021 Inductees

As Mr B mentioned above, CONGRATULATIONS to all students who were inducted as leaders at our special parade on Friday. These students will lead our school for the year and no doubt do an amazing job.

Mr B spoke very well about the qualities of leaders and what it takes to lead… I’m sure our 2021 school leaders will take in what he said and apply it in such a way that makes our amazing community proud.

Leadership at Weir…

Developing the qualities of leadership and responsibility is an important element of the curriculum at Weir State School. Over the 7 years that students are here at our school, we aim to provide them with a range of opportunities to grow in self-confidence and take on increasing responsibilities. Little steps like taking charge of their own home reader and homework all assist students to become responsible for their own actions.

As students become more independent, we provide them with the skills to take on wider school responsibilities and begin to show leadership skills in small and large groups. Taking on a monitor role in the classroom or school yard, helps students to gain a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of being part of a larger community. Leadership is about having a go at something. You don’t have to be the ‘boss’ to be a leader. You need to be prepared to take on some challenge and see it through. Leadership must be demonstrated. As American industrialist Henry Ford said, “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

Leadership requires enthusiasm, passion and a positive attitude for what it is you want to complete or change. Leadership is also about working with and trusting others to achieve a common vision.

We have many examples of strong student leaders in our school, with our recently inducted school leaders being just one example. Others include:

• School Student Council
• Senior students helping with the junior students
• Our school seniors being present at selected community events
• Upper school students working with lower school students to improve reading
• Leaders being involved in running school events and selling cold cups to raise valuable funds
• Seniors representing our school at sports carnivals and award ceremonies

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Mr Coey’s Joke of the Week

Q: What do you call an elephant that doesn’t matter?

A: Irr-elephant!!!

All schools in Queensland are committed to providing safe and supportive learning environments for all students, which address their educational needs. At Weir State School we have high expectations and believe that to achieve ones potential, students must attend school regularly.

Weir State School is committed to following the Queensland State-wide initiative ‘Every Day Counts’ which promotes 4 key messages:

• All children should be enrolled at school and attend on every school day.
• Schools should monitor, communicate and implement strategies to improve regular school attendance.
• Truanting can place a student in unsafe situations and impact on their future employability and life choices.
• Attendance at school is the responsibility of everyone in the community.

Research shows that regular attendance is integral to successful academic and social outcomes. Accordingly, it is important that students, staff and parents/carers have a shared understanding of the importance of regular student attendance and their responsibilities.

Parent/Carer Responsibilities

• Ensure that child attends school on time, every school day.
• Provide a satisfactory explanation for all absences, that is, any time during which a student is not attending or participating in their educational program.
• Contact the school within 2 days of the student’s return from an unplanned absence, in person, by phone, SMS reply or email.
• Contact the school prior to any planned absence, in person, by phone or by email. Where this is not possible, parents must provide the reason for any absences within 2 days of the student’s return to school.
• Contact Administration if student absence is to be for an extended period of time (e.g. family reasons or illness) and request schoolwork.
• Apply for an exemption for their child for non-attendance at school for a stated or indefinite period where the child’s attendance is impossible or should not be reasonably required and the absence will be for more than 10 school days.
• Supply administration with a medical certificate for illness absences more than 3 days.
• Contact Administration if a student is refusing to attend school. Initiate or attend meetings to seek support and discuss their child’s attendance or participation in their educational program.

• Advise the school of any change of address or phone numbers to ensure school records are accurate. Up to date data is essential in an emergency.
• Ensure that child follows the school’s processes and procedures for late arrival.

The benefits of recycling are supported at school in the following manner:

TONER CARTRIDGES are recycled through Planet Ark.

Printer cartridges are made up of a combination of plastics, metals, foam, ink and toner.  Throwing them into landfill contributes to the growing problem of electronic waste. By recycling your toner cartridges you are helping to reduce this waste. Please place them in the Planet Ark box next to the purple Battery World bin, downstairs Block 7.

Bring your BATTERIES into school so that we can dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner.  Car batteries must be delivered to Battery World on Ingham Road. The purple Battery World recycling bin is placed downstairs of Block 7.

Spare shopping bags are welcome at the Library so that our library books are always protected.

Townsville City Council is keen to share Townsville Dashboards with students and teachers as a source of information about the local community and an online resource for educators, particularly for Digital Technologies, ICT, STEM, Humanities and Geography.

 Townsville Dashboards (https://dashboards.townsville.qld.gov.au) provides a digital platform for the community to easily access data and information about their community and Council service performance.

 Access Townsville Dashboards to:

·         Explore dashboards, profiles and tools (Community and Economic Profiles, Disaster Management, Planning Services, Townsville Mapping);

·         Download and explore a range of Council open datasets (currently 65 datasets published) through our Open Data Portal;

·         View Council datasets and information through a series of interactive visualisations (Your Council);

·         Open datasets include animal complaints and registrations, city maintenance activities, community grants, development applications, library services, waste services, water dam levels, production and consumption;

·         Aerial photography and digital elevation model information in also available for download;

·         The open datasets provide an opportunity for students to explore local datasets and to utilise these datasets for data-driven decisions and digital solutions.

We would welcome any feedback on Townsville Dashboards, particularly:

• Aspects of Townsville Dashboards you currently utilise and value
• Additional content and datasets that you would find useful