Dear Parents/Carers,

This term our professional development focus for staff has been on the Science of Reading. 

The "Science of Reading" is a body of research that explains how children learn to read  and how to best teach them. It emphasises the importance of explicit, systematic instruction in foundational skills like phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency alongside vocabulary and comprehension. 

Key concepts for parents: 

Phonemic Awareness: This involves understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds (phonemes) Activities like identifying the first sound in a word or rhyming words can help with this skill. 

Phonics: This is the understanding of the relationships between letters and sounds and how to use these relationships to decode (read) words. Explicit instruction on letter-sound correspondences is crucial. 

Fluency: This is the ability to read words accurately and quickly with appropriate expression. Reading aloud regularly, especially with a finger under the words, can help build fluency. 

Vocabulary: This refers to a child's understanding of words and their meanings. Engaging in conversation, reading a variety of texts and exploring new words can expand vocabulary. 

Comprehension: This is the ability to understand what has been read. Talking about the book after reading, asking questions and summarising the story can enhance comprehension. 

We have had two reading masterclasses and are poised for our third in a few weeks time. Our Prep to 2 staff reps have reviewed and revised our Prep to 2 Phonics Scope and Sequence. Next week our Year 3 to 6 staff reps will be spending some time to develop our word study scope and sequence.  In the next newsletter, I will outline some strategies parents/carers can use at home to support their child's reading in alignment with the Science of Reading. 

Have a good week,

Kathy

Year 2 Excursion to Wolston House

ZINGERS!

Congratulations to the learners from 3Z who were nominated for a ZINGER! This group of keen writers enjoyed using characters from the BeeWare text, and crafted imaginative stories that showcased creativity, teamwork, and strong writing skills.

Bogan Bingo- 1 Week to go!

Bogan Bingo, proudly sponsored by RE/MAX Ignite-Profile, is back and taking place on Saturday 24th May. Single tickets are available on QKR for $25, or $35 which includes a delicious burger and a bevy! Please note that if you would like a burger, you will need to pre-order on QKR. 

The Bogan Bingo event commences at 5:00pm with Happy Hour, burgers and raffle tickets, with the Bingo fun running from 6:30-8:30pm. 

Everyone who attended Bogan Bingo in 2024 had an absolute blast, with many excited to go again this year. A reminder that all money raised through this event goes back to our school!

Although tickets are sold as singles, you will be able to sit in table groups! 

Prep Learners Celebrate Mother’s Day

On Friday, 9th May, our Prep classrooms were filled with excitement, laughter and love as we hosted a special Mother’s Day celebration. Each Prep learner welcomed their Mum, or another cherished Special Person, to join them for a memorable morning of shared activities and connection.

The atmosphere was buzzing as children and their guests rotated through a variety of hands-on experiences designed to celebrate the important people in their lives. Among the most popular activities were decorating and enjoying sweet ‘Love Bug’ cookies, blowing bubbles in the sunshine, painting fingernails, painting and crafting colourful bracelets and necklaces for Mum to wear with pride.

It was a delight to witness the joy on the children’s faces as they proudly worked side-by-side with their loved ones. Events like these not only honour the incredible role our families play but also strengthen the bonds within our school community.

Thank you to all who attended and helped make the morning so special. It was truly a celebration to remember!

Grade 1 Learners Dive into Science with Street Science!

On Monday, our Grade 1 learners were buzzing with excitement as they took part in a hands-on incursion presented by Street Science.

The morning began with a high-energy Signature Show, where learners were reminded that science is everywhere! Through exciting demonstrations, we explored how materials can change, and how we sense light and sound from its source. This interactive performance linked beautifully to our learning from last term on light and sound, revising key concepts in a fun and memorable way.  

After that, learners got their hands dirty in the Get It Growing workshop. We investigated the parts of plants and discussed the important role each part plays in helping a plant survive. Then, each learner potted their very own seedling to care for at home. One of the highlights was creating a native flower bomb—ready to throw into the garden to encourage native blooms to grow and support our environment!

The day was packed with engaging activities designed to spark curiosity and deepen our understanding of the world around us. Learners used and revised all their senses as they observed, touched, smelled, and even heard science in action.

Lunchtime clubs and activities

For Term 2, we have a range of new clubs and activities now available to engage and support our learners, and believe there is something on offer for everyone. Please see the overview below for details on what’s on offer. We encourage you to explore these options with your child and help them find something they’re excited to try. If your child is unsure about joining a club, we suggest they attend at least once to see if it’s a good fit.

Clubs in the spotlight

Bracelet Club (Years 3 to 4, Wed, 1st break in 4F classroom)

Bracelet club has kicked off again in 2025 and is hugely popular. This club would not possilbe without the support of Louise Ellwood and Bobby-Rae Cole who kindly supply materials and run the club (with help from Mrs Finn).   For anybody that wants to unleash their creativity, this is the place for you.  

Ashleigh (Left) and Eloise (right) showing off their amazing bracelets.

Jambo Dance Club -Years 1 to 3, Wed, 1st break in Hall

Jambo dance is proving popular with our young dances who are coming along for a fun and high energy 30 minutes of movement and dance.   A thank you to  Caroline Donaldson, Jambo parent, who is kindly volunteering to run this activiity.   

Soccer Club -Year 1, 1st break Mon | Year 2, 1st break Mon | Year 3, 1st break Wed | Year 4, 1st break Thur

Miss Annabelle (Year 3 & 4) and Ms Tovey (Year 1 and 2) are running sessions with our learners (times above). The focus is on learning through play, include light refereeing and simple rule reminders to help kids understand the game and keep things running smoothly.    

Sonny (left) and Max (right) with Miss Annabelle

As the EcoMarines ambassadors of JHSS, we were lucky enough to get to go to Tangalooma on Moreton Island for an EcoMarines Ambassador Adventure day. In the early morning we arrived at the front gate with the other EcoMarines, keen and exited for the day ahead.

After a smooth ferry ride, we arrived at Tangalooma and followed the other EcoMarines into a big marquee, ready to start our adventure. We enjoyed some pizza before being introduced to our group for the next part of the day.

Our first activity was learning about how we can start an action plan at school and different project ideas. We then moved onto an activity with Coral Watch (Citizen Science on the Reef), to learn about coral bleaching and how to save coral.

Next, we did some team-building activities where we broke up into different groups of EcoMarines and had a lot of fun. Other activities included a ‘street science’ show where we learned about sewage and urban utilities and what can and can’t go down the drain. We also heard from SEQ Water, learning about our dams and how experimenting with filters to clean water. We then had some free time to learn about animals at the Eco-Centre, relax at the beach and have fun!

After dinner we listened to an informative presentation about the dolphins we were about to feed, and about their history at Tangalooma. Once the presentation was over, we gathered all our belongings and headed down to the beach for the best part of the day, dolphin feeding!

The three of us lined up on the beach in our lanes ready to feed the dolphins with slimy, silver fish from out of a bucket. Mrs Stuart and Matthew went into the water in lane 6 to feed a dolphin called Luna. Maddie and Ella fed Silhouette, mother of Eclipse, her new baby. It was an unforgettable experience!

We returned back to school, excited about knowing a lot more about conservation and the environment.

Matthew, Maddie and Ella

The Year Four learners went on camp to Runaway Bay Sport and Leadership Excellence Centre on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 of May. Although it was only for two days and one night, we packed in a lot of fun. 

The first day was wet and rainy!  Despite this, we made good time getting down to the Gold Coast. When we arrived, we got split into our cabins, dropped off our suit cases, had some food and jumped into our first activity.    Theo and Evelyn 4A

Camp highlights!

Disco - Scarlett and Clara 

At camp the lovely staff prepared an amazing disco which was a big hit!!! They used a shiny, colourful disco ball in front of a huge speaker, making the music blast out like rainbow notes. One of the main attractions was the... super, long conga line, which almost every one joined, which eventually split into nine or ten parts. Another attraction was the crazy dance battles with the winners usually doing a victory Royale breakdance. Some of the songs they played were the Conga Song, APT, Macarena, Timber and unexpectedly, Baby Shark. Some people really liked or disliked some of the varieties of songs that were played, like Shake it Off, APT, Baby Shark and Nothing Holding Me Back.

Survivor and Indigenous Games  - Phillip and Lincoln

Survivor was series of challenges inspired by… you guessed it ... the TV show 'Survivor'. The key to success was working as team, with good communication and sportsmanship essential. My favourite challenge was where we had to use an extremely long flexi tube and work as team to get tennis balls from one basket to another, one at time using the tube to carry them.   It sounds simple, but when  there are lots of people involved, it gets complicated!

We played a number of games based on traditional Indigenous games. My favourite game was when we played the pool noodle war! The original game involved using sticks, but luckily we used pool noodles instead. The aim of the game was to 'attack' (hit the apponent below the waist) and they then needed to freeze with noodle in the air (ie. they were 'captured').   The first team to capture everyone won the game!

Food - Lily & Sophie

Here at Runaway Bay Sports and Education Centre, they serve a diverse variety of foods and refreshments. We were seated in long, narrow tables. When a sign was held up in front of your table, you could go to the serving window to get hot food of your preference. Our favourite meals were lunch on Monday, where we had pasta and meatballs as well as, breakfast on Tuesday, where we had sausages and hash browns. There were four lucky people who had their birthdays on the two days of
camp, so we got ice cream for dessert.

Stand up paddle boarding & beach games - Laura and Aathith

Paddle boarding and beach games were amazing!!! All the Year Four students had
an incredible time playing at the beach! Most of the students had never been on a
paddle board before and enjoyed trying it out. They also had lots of fun
participating in the other exciting beach activities.

Lodge – Gunes & Chelsea

Year Four school camp wouldn’t be an overnight camp if there weren’t any lodges! The lodges are a very important part of camp for the students and the teachers, as sleep is essential. There are ten cabins per lodge, including a common room and toilets. The ninth and tenth cabins are usually for the teachers (sometimes there is only one teacher); with a seperate bathroom and two beds. There are four students in a cabin, and two bunk beds (there is a lot of fighting over top bunks). After a long and busy day, most cabins are asleep almost instantly, but some cabins could be heard chatting and giggling late into the night.

Thank you to parents, staff and teachers who made it possible!

On behalf of the Year Fours, we would like to say a huge thank you to not only to our own amazing teachers but the incredible staff at Runaway Bay Sport and Leadership Excellence Centre. They were very supportive and encouraged us to try things we had never done before. Our teachers also played a large part in taking care of us in tough times like when some students got homesick. Without all these people we wouldn’t have had as much fun as we did.

Overall we had a blast and look forward to going on Year Five camp next year. We would recommend this camp to all ages because it is a good learning experience and no matter what the weather is like you will still have fun.

Book Fair – May 21st - May 26th

Book Club Issue 3 orders are now closed. Orders should be arriving soon and will be delivered to classrooms.

Our first Book Fair for the year will be starting Wednesday, May 21st in the library. There will be plenty of books, posters and novelty stationery items on sale. 30% of all sales comes directly back to our library in the form of dollar-for-dollar reward points, to spend on new books and resources for the library. Thank you for supporting Book Club and Book Fair, our major fundraisers for the school library.  

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) Day – May 21st

On the same day Book Fair kicks off, we will also be celebrating NSS across the school. Every year the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) selects a wonderful Australian book to be read by millions of people in Australia and New Zealand simultaneously. This is a fun celebration of reading for pleasure.

This year the book selected is “Truck Cat” by new author Deborah Frenkel, with illustrations by award-winning artist Danny Snell. This touching tale explores themes of cats and humans, immigration and identity, and the experience of losing and finding home.

To promote and celebrate this book and event, we will be holding an in-school competition during the week of NSS, with a chance to win a copy of the book, bookmark and stickers. 

Author Visit – Tony Armstrong – 28th May, 12 noon

We are delighted to be welcoming Tony Armstrong, to our school to talk to the Year 1 and 2 learners about his latest book, Maggie the Dragon. Tony is a proud Barranbinya–Gamilaroi man well known for his career as a sports presenter on ABC News Breakfast and his former career as an AFL player. Tony's debut picture book, George the Wizard, was published in 2024, and Maggie the Dragon is his second book.

Tony’s visit will be a wonderful lead-in to Reconciliation Week at our school. We would like to extend the invitation to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander learners and their families who would like to come along to hear Tony speak. An email will be coming out soon with more information. You can also email Ms Edwards gedwa16@eq.edu.au to RSVP.

If your child is in Year 1 or 2 you will have already received an email, and there is no need to RSVP.

Readers Cup Teams

Our teams have been busy reading, reading and reading some more! They have been meeting regularly and working together as a team to quiz each other on the different books. Most team members have read all of the 5 books already and are even starting to re-read some. Great effort! Competition day is Tuesday 17th June at St. Aidan’s AGS.

Apologies, one team member was left off the list in the previous newsletter. Our two teams are:

Team 1: Emma C, Matthew V, Chase H, Laura L, Sophie E

Team 2: Olivia K, Miles L, Neel G, Krutir K, Sofia L

These are the 5 books selected this year which our teams are busy reading.

Questions?

If you have any questions, 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.

Sports Representatives

Congratulations to our latest sports representatives selected for Northern Eagles teams! Rugby League: Alex, Henry, Isaac, Bronson and Havili; Rugby Union: Bronson and Henry; Touch Football: Alex and George; Football (Soccer): Ricky, Kyan, Ryder and Aziah; Golf: Ricky; Cross Country: Edie!

Huge congratulations to Caelan for his selection into the Met West Boys Hockey team! Well done to Will for his selection as a Shadow Player for the Boys Met West AFL team!

Huge congratulations to all our award recipients from our recent Cross Country competitive trials!

Track and Field Carnivals

The Senior Athletics Carnivals will be held in Week 8 of Term 2 for all learners in Year 4-6.

9/10 years compete on Tuesday the 10th of June and 11/12 years compete on Wednesday the 11th of June. All 9-12 years will run a 100m race (competitive or non-competitive) on Friday the 13th of June. Nomination sheets have been in the Senior Shed for the last few weeks to sign up for the 100m, 200m, and 800m competitive races. All learners were also reminded in their PE lessons to sign up if they wish to compete in the competitive races. Nominations have now closed for these events.

All other competitive event qualification is occurring in PE lessons (High Jump, Long Jump, Shot Put).

Running Club

Running Club has a new day! If you are in Year 1-6, join us on Tuesday mornings at 8am on the oval, with hats and water bottles for some running fun! Spare socks and shoes are a great idea as the oval is quite damp in the mornings at the moment.

Interschool Sport

All teams are training hard for our Interschool Sport competitions and are improving so much each week! Huge thank you to our teachers who are giving up their own lunchtimes to coach and organise our teams!

Intraschool Sport

Senior students who stay at school on Friday participate in a range of sports and activities. They have particularly enjoyed a new game called '9 Mens Morris'. It's a great strategic game with a board that can be drawn up on a scrap of paper and tokens can be pebbles. A great game to play with family.

Coming up soon in our school music calendar

Week 5 – Monday morning Junior Band begins – 7:30am (continuing each Monday morning).

Week 7 – 5 June – Fanfare for Senior Choir and Year 3 Choir. Permissions have been sent out on QParents.

Week 9 – 17 June – Winter concert for Beginner Strings, Junior Strings, Senior Strings, Junior Band, Senior Band, Senior Choir. 12:45pm School concert and 6pm Concert for families.

Week 10 – 26 June – JindaJam combined workshops with Middle Park and Jindalee SS for Year 4 Band and Year 3 Strings (at JHSS).

Junior Band

The Junior Band had their first rehearsal together last week. How exciting that after only about 10 lessons on their instruments they know enough notes to play some simple songs together! They did a great job for their first rehearsal. Rehearsals are now on Monday mornings before school. Learners need to arrive at 7:30am to set up. Welcome to the early mornings parents! Let’s watch this group of learners grow over the year and even over the next 2 years!

Practising an instrument

The persistence and resilience that develops when children (or anyone!) learn an instrument is huge! Lessons and rehearsals are often the highlight of the process. The thing that everyone struggles with is the practise in between lessons. This is so important though. This is where the struggle happens and our brains need a struggle to develop strong neural pathways.

Practising at home is not only a struggle for children but for parents as well! Here is an article with a few tips. My personal tip is bribery! ?The amazing thing about practise is that it spirals, the more children practise, the more fulfilling practising is and so the more motivated they feel – we as parents just need to get them over the hump of settling in to do it!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-22/why-kids-need-to-practise-music-and-how-to-get-them-motivated/105177836 

A LITTLE BIT OF MUSIC FUN

Here are the clips that upper school 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 3 -  Cello Wars (Star Wars Parody) Lightsaber Duel - The Piano Guys

Week 4 – Queen (ACAPELLA Medley) - Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, Don’t Stop Me Now, and MORE!

National Road Safety Week will be held from 11 to 18 May. All road safety is local, and we can each do our part to ensure that everyone gets home safely. Every time you are on the road choose to drive so others survive. 

Speed limits and drop-off, pick-up and parking rules exist to keep children, parents and carers safe and to minimise speed and traffic jams around schools. Here are some tips from Queensland Transport for parking safely around schools.

When parking on the roads or streets around your children’s school:

• say goodbye to your children on the school side of the road—never get them to cross the road to their school’s entrance alone
• walk across the road and meet your children after school (never call out to them from the other side)
• try to leave home early to avoid arriving at the busiest times
• follow the directions of all signs
• park a safe distance from all crossings
• always single park (double parking causes accidents and traffic jams)
• try parking a few streets away from the school and walking with your children
• organise a car pool with other parents—to reduce the number of cars trying to park around your children’s school.

There can often be queues at drop-off and pick-up areas outside schools. When using a drop-off and pick-up area you:

• must use the area like a quick moving taxi rank
• need to move forward in the queue of vehicles to the signed area
• are only allowed 2 minutes in the signed area (if you take any longer you can be fined)—if your children are not ready to get straight into your vehicle at pick-up time, you will need to drive round the block and queue to enter the area again
• should only let your children out once you have pulled into the signed area (it is dangerous to let them out while waiting in a queue)
• should teach your children to look out for your vehicle and to get in quickly and independently when you pull up

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