Dear Parents/Carers,

We were disappointed to cancel our Cross Country Event this week due to the state of the grounds after the cyclone. Ironically, it chose to rain yesterday morning! Given we have lost a week of school, it was impossible to fit in the whole carnival in Week 9 or 10. We may look for an opportunity for a Fun Run next term. It's always a challenge when something has to be postponed or cancelled to find another place for it to go in what is already shaping up to be a busy term 2. 

BIKE AND SCOOTER SAFETY

A reminder to parents/carers that in Queensland it isn't legal for a child under 16 to ride an e-scooter without an adult and to ride a bike of any kind without a helmet.  My 19 year old son had a scooter accident last year, learned the hard way about the consequences of not wearing a helmet and broke his jaw. Sucking fluid through a straw for 9 weeks was difficult for a strapping young man, but certainly better than what could have been a life changing outcome. In our fortnightly progress visits, the doctor shared many stories with us about their emergency staff almost doubling due to the impact of e-scooter injuries. Parents/carers may be called to collect their child if it is clear they would be riding a scooter home without an adult or if a child attempts to leave the school-grounds without a helmet in their possession. Local families are reporting to us that some of these children are seen putting themselves in unsafe situations on the roads and footpaths, so clearly they need more support to ride safely to and from school. 

CYCLONE ALFRED

We are still dealing with some of the after effects of Cyclone Alfred with some work to be done with the long term support of the Department of Education needed. 

I'd like to thank the leadership team and staff for their efforts in getting things back to normal. We also greatly appreciate the supportive words of a number of community members who went out of their way to send through some kind sentiments in what was a frustrating time for everyone. 

Thanks to Alfred, our newsletter didn't make it out last week in Week 7 as is usual hence why we are sending it out today. Our next newsletter will be a short update in Week 10 and will resume its normal cycle in Week 1 of next term. 

P and C ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

This meeting has been postponed to Monday March 31 and all community members are welcome. The P and C in this school are a proactive and positive group therefore the meetings are very well attended. 

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank outgoing Vice-President David Gunsberg whose twins graduated at the end of 2023 and his continued passion for this school kept him involved until our February 2025 meeting. David has been a great advocate for our school and advisor to the P and C and school executive teams across many projects. David wrote an open letter to our community which I think is important to share. The link is JHSS_VP_Final_Report.pdf. These words from David's report particularly resonate with me having worked with a number of P and C Committees over many years. 

"Jamboree Heights State School’s motto is ‘Learning for Life,’ and over the past six-plus years, I have come to appreciate just how much this applies to us as parents and citizens as well. I leave with invaluable lifelong lessons—lessons that have shaped me not just as a parent and community member, but as a person. For this, I am immeasurably grateful.
‘Jambo’s’ is a special place. Its culture is greater than any one of us, yet it requires the contributions of every one of us to nurture and sustain it. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it."

Jade Lewis, our outgoing President whose son finished at the end of last year, has also indicated she will be around to support the P and C Executive in 2025 which saw us all breathe a sigh of relief, as we weren't ready to lose both David and Jade at once.

Jade and David are amazing community members and it goes to show what a special place Jamboree Heights is, when individuals like Jade and David choose to continue their contribution even after their children have moved to secondary school. I look forward to walking beside all those who put up their hand to be part of our great P and C in 2025. The Davids and Jades of the world are hard to replicate but everyone brings their own special skills and qualities to support our school to improve for the benefit of our learners, your children.

Have a great weekend,

Kathy

School Photos

Uniform Requirements

• All Prep-Year 5 learners are asked to wear their formal checked uniform on their photo day.
• Our Year 6 learners are asked to wear their Year 6 senior shirt.

Sibling Photos

• Sibling photos will be available on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8:00am.
• All sibling photos will be taken in the MPC.

Photo Schedule

Sustainability Update

A huge shout out to two of our Year 6 school leaders, Matthew and Ella, who supported the Clean Up Australia event, held at Kangaroo Point. Matthew and Ella gave up their time on a Sunday morning to help support this fantastic environmental initiative. They even featured on the live weather cross on the TODAY show!

Thank you to Matthew and Ella, for not only caring for our school environment, but also our local community.

Year 2 ZINGERS!

Congratulations to this eager group of Year 2 learners who shared their poetry innovations during the week! It was pleasing to see the high level of creativity on display, as the learners replaced the nouns and adjectives of an original poem, while keeping the same syllable count and rhyme pattern.

Our First Learners Achieve 50 Gotchas in PBL!

We are thrilled to announce a significant achievement in our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Program! Our first cohort of learners have reached an impressive milestone—earning 50 Gotchas! These Gotchas are awarded to learners who consistently demonstrate positive behaviours such as our school expectations of Safe, Respectful and Responsible.

This accomplishment highlights the hard work and dedication of our learners in creating a supportive and respectful learning environment. Every Gotcha reflects their commitment to not only meeting but exceeding the expectations of our PBL Program. 

As we celebrate this milestone, we look forward to seeing more students follow in their footsteps. Their success serves as a powerful reminder of the impact positive behaviours can have on both individual growth and our collective school culture.

A huge congratulations to our first group of learners for reaching 50 Gotchas!

Below are some photos of our leaders and our Gotcha winners at our first Gotcha pop-up shop!

Dance Curriculum Program

We are excited to welcome back our Dance Curriculum Program for 2025. Our learners love dancing and the enthusiastic dance teachers. This year we are excited to welcome back OMAR, our instructor from last year.

The program will run for 10 x 30 minute sessions, over Week 9 and 10 of the Term.  

We welcome parents to an OPEN SESSION on Tuesday 1st April in the MPC. Please see the below schedule for each year level.

DISCO – Friday 28th March

Our Sports Committee are excited to be hosting our first disco for 2025, along with Omar our Dance Teacher and DJ! 

Prep – Year 1 DISCO -  will take place from 5:00pm-6:00pm. All Prep and Year 1 learners are to be fully supervised by a Parent or Carer during the disco. We request any older siblings stay with and be supervised by a Parent or Carer during this time. Playgrounds and play areas are out of bounds.

Year 2 – Year 3 DISCO -  will take place from 6:15pm-7:15pm. All Year 2 and Year 3 learners are to be fully supervised by a Parent or Carer during the disco. We request any older siblings stay with and be supervised by a Parent or Carer during this time. Playgrounds and play areas are out of bounds.

Year 4, 5 and 6 DISCO - will take place from 7:30pm-8:30pm. Learners must be dropped off at the MPC and collected by a Parent or Carer. If a Parent or Carer stays we request any younger siblings stay with and be supervised by a Parent or Carer during this time. Playgrounds and play areas are out of bounds.

Entry $5 + Glow Product Bag $5 = $10

Food, Drinks and Glow Products available

Sausage Sizzle $3, Water/Juice $2, Chips/Lollies $1, Glow Product Bag $5, Individual Glow Products $1/$2 

Cash and Eftpos available. 

If you can help out the Sports Committee we’d love your help. Thanks to those who have already signed up.

volunteersignup.org/EWPW8 or email JHSS.sports.treasurer@gmail.com  

Thank you for supporting our Sports Committee and our Dance Curriculum Program.

PBL Free Dress Day & Disco (Friday 4th April)

The upcoming Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Term Celebration is set to be a fun-filled event! To celebrate all learners who have demonstrated outstanding behaviour this term, we’re hosting a Free Dress Day followed by an exciting Disco with DJ Omar throughout the day. This is a fantastic opportunity for learners to showcase their positive behaviour while enjoying a day of fun, music, and dancing. We can’t wait to see everyone join in on the celebration and have a great time!

Curriculum Planning Days

During the last two weeks of term, our Year Level Teams will be involved in Year Level Curriculum Planning Days. This term we introduced updated V9 Australian Curriculum units in English and Mathematics. We will review these units and prepare our Term 2 units on these days, thus ensuring we have consistency and depth of understanding across our teams as well as planning assessment tasks, teaching and learning sequences and activities that suit the needs of our learners.

Year 1

With Cyclone Alfred disrupting our last couple of weeks, I would like to say a huge thank you to the Year 1 teachers, learners and parents for their understanding and preparation for our day out of our normal classrooms. Our learners took it in their stride and were settled for learning in their change of environment. Thank you!

What a Month in Prep

It has been a busy last few weeks for all of our Prep learners. Not only have they experienced the disruptions of Cyclone Alfred, they have continued to learn the Prep curriculum, classroom and school routines, had their hearing and vision screened, they have participated in Alphabet Day and will experience their first incursion today, Street Science. As the next two weeks will also be very busy for our youngest learners, whom we often see tire towards the end of term, outside of school activities and bedtime routines become very important. We have Dance curriculum each day across the two weeks. Our school disco on Friday, March 28 and our teachers will be involved in a planning meeting on Monday, 31 March. There are also school photos on Thursday, 3 April.  Wow, what an end to the term!

Prep Alphabet Day

There was a sea of colour and costumes, many superhero costumes, on Wednesday, March 3 for Prep alphabet day. Our learners were able to tell us who they were dressed as and the letter name and sound their costume started with. For example, I am dressed as fairy, fairy starts with ‘f’ and the sound ‘f’ makes. There were a variety of indoor and outdoor activities and as you can see from the pictures, it was a fun and enjoyable day for all.

Information Sessions - Tuesday 29th April at 9.30am or 6.00pm

Prep Transition Activity Sessions

These sessions are able to be booked in July by families with confirmed enrolments.

• Monday 4th August
• Tuesday 5th August
• Wednesday 6th August

Prep Interviews - Friday 24th October

Prep Orientation Morning - Friday 14th November

More information and all the enrolment forms are available on our website.

Term 1 Parent Teacher Meetings –  bookings close Saturday 22 March 

Over Weeks 9 and 10 (Monday 24 March  to Friday 4 April), you will have the opportunity to meet with your child’s class teacher.  These meetings are an ideal opportunity to gain an insight into your child’s progress to date, discuss current learning priorities and a chance to address any questions you may have. They can also provide a chance to discuss ways you might be able to support your child’s learning at home.   

Bookings will close on Saturday 22 March at 7pm. For detailed instructions on how to make a booking, please refer to the Parent Teacher Information letter.  

If you require any assistance with the booking process, please contact the school office.    

Lunchtime clubs and activities on offer in Term 1 

In 2025, we will continue to offer a number of before and during school clubs and activities to engage and support our learners. Each week, more clubs are now coming online and to find out what is on offer for next week, please refer to the overview below and I encourage you to promote these with your child. With any club, if your child is unsure, I encourage them to come along at least once and see if they like it.  

Clubs in the spotlight

Maker Space - Jnr (Y2-3 1st break Tuesday) & Snr (Y4-6, 1st break Thursday)

Maker Space has commenced again and Mrs House has stocked up on new supplies.   Kids are encouraged to let their creativity flow.   Check out some of the cool things that you do at Maker Space below.  

Lots of loose materials to use.  Let you imagine run wild!

Construct! 

This week a team of enthusiastic Year 6 learners ran a Coles Harry Potter Disc Swap. There was a free lucky dip to get a disc as well as the opportunity to swap spare discs which learners needed for their collection.

Due to its popularity, another swap will be held next Wednesday 26th March at first break in the Junior Shed. Please bring your spare discs to swap and a list of what discs you need. Hope to see you there!

Book Club

Issue 2 Book Club orders are due this Sunday 24th March, 2025. All orders are to be placed online through LOOP ordering. Thank you for supporting Book Club and Book Fair, our major fundraisers for the school library, with all sales earning reward points for our library to spend on new books and resources.

Harmony Day – Using eBooks for Research

Our Year 3 learners today used an eBook about Harmony Day to learn more about this celebration. As well as having access to the SORA (Education Qld) eBook library, all learners can also access the database “redElearn” from our library catalogue. redElearn has a built in eBook library with may curriculum linked topics available.

Year 3 read sections of the Harmony Day eBook today and wrote a statement about Harmony Day on their paper person for display.

Borrowing

Please ensure all books are being returned within 2 weeks. We have hundreds of books overdue at the moment. Please help your child/ren find these books to return so they can borrow new ones.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the library or Book Club, feel free to email Ms Edwards – gedwa16@eq.edu.au

You can access our school library catalogue here. Parents are welcome to become library borrowers too. Drop in and see us if you’d like to sign up to be a borrower.

Year Two Choir

If your Year Two child would like to join Year Two Choir please fill in this online form. Year Two choir will start on Friday 2 May (Week 2 next term). We will rehearse at second break on Fridays. Children are welcome to come and have a trial but I do ask that after the first week they make a decision and if they want to be in choir that they commit to coming to every rehearsal, not just when they feel like it. Choir will cost $10 for the year and you will be invoiced next term.

Most of our performances throughout the year will be on assembly, we will have one out of school time rehearsal which will be our end of year Gala Concert in the MPC. More information will come about that later in the year. If you have any questions about Year Two Choir please email, Mrs Brydon dbryd1@eq.edu.au.

Sign up here: https://forms.office.com/r/ZNpjmFzYUQ

Choir Day

Next Wednesday our Senior Choir and Year Three Choirs will have a special incursion where Jenny Moon, a fabulous Brisbane Conductor will come and work with them at Jamboree for the day. What a great day of singing and learning they will have. Choir members should just go to class as usual and their teachers will send them at different times during the day.

Year Six Music

In Year Six Music we have been learning about how music can be used to revitalise cultures and the importance of music in communicating a message. Here are some observations from the Year Sixes. We particularly explored the song “Treaty” by Yothu Yindi, one that many parents will remember! If you’re a Year Six parent, why not play this song at home and have a chat to your child about what they know!

“The purpose of the chorus is to hook the listener in and to stick a topic into their head. The composers gave the chorus extra power by repeating the same word over and over again and making it forte and faster or presto. Treaty helps to revitalise Aboriginal culture by bringing back the memory of what happened when they wanted a treaty and how it never came as well as using traditional Aboriginal instruments in the song.” Alanna 6C

“The lyrics that showed the two cultures coming together is when it says “when the waters will be one”. This shows the Aboriginal and English culture coming together because it means one water way is the Aboriginal culture and one is the English culture. The Aboriginal people want these two waters to connect and be one.” Megan 6H

“They used English and an Aboriginal Language in the song to communicate the idea of cultures coming together as well as traditional Aboriginal instruments with electric guitars. In the chorus they used more instruments and changed the dynamics to forte to give the chorus extra power. This song makes people realise how long Indigenous people have been here before us and that we should respect them and give them rights.” Chase H 6M

Year Two Music

The Year Two learners have been discovering all about ostinatos over the last few weeks in Music. If you ask any Year Two learner what an ostinato is they will tell you, in a very groovy way, “an ostinato is a pattern that repeats”. They have been performing songs while keeping the beat and playing the rhythm and now also while performing an ostinato (a rhythmic pattern that isn’t the beat or the rhythm of the song). It is quite tricky as they increase in skills of part-work in Music. They need to concentrate on singing one thing and clapping something different – all while staying in tune and in time! They have done a great job! Here is a link to the video we have watched about ostinatos – they request it every week they love it so much. If you’re a Year Two parent, play it at home and enjoy with your child. I warn you, it sticks in your head! Ostinato Explained!

Executive Function and Music

Executive functions fall into 3 main categories: working memory, cognitive flexibility (flexible thinking) and inhibitory control (self control). To improve any executive function (EF), practice is critical. EFs need to be continually challenged — not just used — to see improvements. (That goes for both children and adults.) However, EF training and practice alone will not achieve the best results. EFs blossom most when we lessen things that impair them (like stress or sadness) and enhance the things that support them (like joy or feelings of belonging).

Having great EF means that we are able to focus on our work and adapt to different situations – it is what we want all of our children to be great at. The Music classroom is a great place for us to practise these EFs in the context of having a great time making music together. Playing instruments and stopping at the right time is a great example of how we practise these EFs in Music. Another example is when the Preps use scarves to move to music – they are using their inhibitory control to not just do whatever they choose and their working memory to remember what happens in each part of the music. All in the context of having so much fun!

A little bit of Music Fun

Here are the clips that Year 5 & 6 students have watched recently in Music. We often only watch part of the clip in class due to time constraints and the learners are always asking to watch the rest. I tell them to ask their parents to show them from the newsletter. Why not watch them as a family and share the fun!

Week 6 -  Celebrating Ireland on St Patrick's Day

Week 7 – Jingle Hoops

Week 8 – THIS HAS BEEN A HUGE HIT THIS WEEK! Chocolate Cello!

Sport Representatives

We have had a hugely busy and successful sporting term, with a large number of JHSS learners selected into Northern Eagles district teams! We are very proud of their hard work and dedication to their chosen sports.

Congratulations to Megan, Evie and George who were selected into the Northern Eagles Girls and Boys Basketball teams to compete at the Met West trials next week. We wish them all the best of luck!

Well done and good luck to Caelan and Joel who were selected into the Northern Eagles Boys Hockey team to compete at the Met West trials next month!

Best of luck to our Northern Eagles Netballers who are competing at the rescheduled Metropolitan West trials next week; Emmie, Alana, Isabella, Amelia, Mitchell and Ethan!

Cross Country Competitive Runners

Our Cross Country competitive runners will be competing before school on Monday the 31st of March for Age Champions and a place in the JHSS Cross Country team. Runners will need to be at school ready to race by 8am please. Best of luck to all competitors!

Running Club

Our last Running Club for the term will Monday of week 9. Running Club is open to all learners in Years 1-6. Please bring a hat, water bottle and a change of shoes and socks as the oval can get quite mushy through winter.

Before School Play

• Before school each day, all students must be sitting in the Junior Shed unless sitting with a parent near their classroom. We insist on NO play on the various playground structures or playing handball before school even if parents are supervising as it entices others to join in, and we have no formal supervision in place before school.

Allergies

At Jamboree Heights State School, we have a number of students who suffer from a range of allergies. For some students, these allergies can be life-threatening. Therefore, we ask the following of parents of children with an allergy:

• Discuss your child’s allergy with their teacher as soon as possible and consider giving permission to share your child’s medical condition with other students and families
• Ensure all medical records are up to date on our school system
• If your child suffers from Anaphylaxis, please ensure their Action Plan and Epi-Pen are current and renewed annually
• Continue educating your child about allergy management
• Plan with the teacher for camps, excursions, sport, cooking at school, and special occasions throughout the year

For all other families, we ask the following:

• Find out from teachers if there is someone with an allergy in the classroom
• Try to consider children with allergies when sending in special treats like birthday food
• Educate your child about allergies, not sharing food, washing hands, and finding help if a friend is showing the symptoms of a reaction
• Be mindful of lunchbox contents such as foods containing nuts and eggs and the impact it may have on children with an allergy. We have a NO SHARING policy!

Finally, our school staff are educated annually on the topic of allergies and also undertake training in the use of Epi-Pens.

Homework

Our school’s policy on Homework:

At Jamboree Heights State School homework will include nightly reading (using appropriate levels and text types) and Computer or iPad tasks such as Reading Eggs, Reading Eggspress, Mathletics, Maths Seeds, Mighty Maths, etc. and occasional alternative tasks such as research, sight words, unit-based tasks, etc. but NO weekly homework sheet or grid, etc. If parents wish for their child to be given NO homework or only certain aspects above, then they can make a formal request in writing (or email) to the teacher. If computer or iPad access at home is difficult then students can make arrangements with their teacher for additional access before or after school or during breaks.

QParents

QParents allows parents to connect instantly with us to access and manage their child’s student information, anytime, anywhere, through a smartphone, tablet or computer. 

• Attendance and absence details, as well as the ability to notify the school of an absence 
• Academic report cards 
• Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online 
• Viewing and updating personal student details, including medical conditions and address 
• Enrolment details 
• Online excursion permissions

For more information see the QParents page on our website.

School Payments

Please note that payments must be made by due dates to ensure your child can attend the various extra-curricular events. Departmental financial practice dictates that we must immediately write off invoices for non-payment and therefore notify numbers based on this. At the end of each term we are required to provide Debtor Statements to those with outstanding invoices attached to their account, so it is very important that invoices are removed in a timely manner for each excursion/incursion or event.

Full details of payment methods can be found on the school website.

Messages from Parents

Requests for messages to be relayed to students during school hours, particularly regarding afternoon pickup arrangements interrupt both the office staff and teachers in the classroom. It is a good idea to confirm with your child each morning what the plan is for the afternoon, and have a regular meeting spot for them to go to if they are ever unsure. While some appointments and changes of plans are inevitable, we would appreciate your efforts in keeping these to a minimum.

The Administration email address is admin@jamboreeheightsss.eq.edu.au.

• All student mobile phones MUST be signed in at the office each morning.
• Students are NOT permitted to have any medication on them, all medication MUST be held at the office.
• Jewellery is NOT permitted except ear studs, watches and medical bracelets/necklaces.
• Playgrounds are NOT available to students before school.
• CLASSES START AT 8:50am EVERY DAY! (late arrivals impact on the learning and teaching).
• Student Absence Email Address: We now have an email address for notifying the school about student absence if you find email more convenient than phoning the school office (absentees@jamboreeheightsss.eq.edu.au).
• Payments: We are no longer able to accept cash payment. Both QParents and BPoint are easy, convenient online payment options. Full details of payment options are available on our website. Our office is currently open for payments from 8:00am-9:30am or 2:30pm-3:30pm, Monday to Friday.
• Office Hours: Please note the office hours below. Whilst staff are in attendance before and after these advertised times, these are the times that are available for our community to access office staff:
  
  • 8:00am to 3:30pm