Newsletter 8th February 2018

From the Principal

Date Claimers Term 1

Tuesday 13th February

P&C Meeting

Monday 26th February

Year 6 GRIP Leadership Day

Friday 2nd March Clean Up Australia Day

Wednesday 7th March

Blue for Blue Day

Thursday 8th March

Arts Council Performance

Wednesday 21st March

Cross Country

Friday 23rd March Religious Instruction Day

Tuesday 27th March

Easter Bonnet Parade

Thursday 29th March

School Concludes

Weekly Timetable

Monday Library

PE – Sport/ swimming for 3/4, 4/5 & 5/6

Environmental Club

Tuesday Library

Innovations Club

Wednesday Tuckshop

LOTE (French)

PE – Health

School Banking

Drama Club

Thursday

Uniform Shop

Playgroup

Friday Music

Choir

Tuckshop

It was great to see all the parents at our Parent Teacher Information meetings on Tuesday. If you were unable to attend please contact your child’s class teacher for information about your child’s class this year. Please take the time to read this information to be fully informed about our programs. Tuesday saw the proud induction of our student leadership team for 2018. Mr Terry Willis, a former Lota teacher, joined us as a special guest to present our eight student leaders with their badges of office and commemorative certificate to mark the occasion. Congratulations to Oliver and Hari, our two school captains, Isobel and Suzanna, our cultural captains and Eva and Cohen (Oxley), and Emma and Nicholas (Flinders), our sports captains. This week saw the commencement of some of the wonderful array of clubs available for our students at Lota – including the Drama Club, Lota Learners, Environmental Club, Innovations Club, Eco Marines and Drumming Club. Thank you to our staff and parent volunteers for offering these opportunities for our students. All are welcome to join us for the first P&C Meeting for 2018. We will meet in the conference room in the school library on Tuesday 13th February, ready for a 6:30pm start. Kind regards Susan Hughes Principal

Eco Marines – Totally Wild Filming

Our Eco Marines have been offered a wonderful opportunity to work with the Ocean Crusaders and the television program Totally Wild. The Ocean Crusaders are running a Paddle Against Plastic story and want to include the Eco Marines from Lota State School at a film shoot with Totally Wild on Monday 12th February from 1:30pm through to 4:30pm.

Students will have the opportunity to paddle a kayak and be filmed picking up rubbish along

Lota Creek. Some students may even have the opportunity to be interviewed as well. We

thank Mrs Beinssen and Mrs Cameron for their work with the Eco Marines and for being so

willing to supervise our Eco Marines during this incredible adventure.

Playgroup

Playgroup at Lota State School commenced last week with our youngest community members enjoying a range of learning activities. There was a lovely group of young people and their parents playing, exploring and socializing together. If you know of anyone who might be interested in joining, please let them know that we meet in the Junior Playground from 9:30am until 11:00am on Thursday mornings.

Coles Sport for Schools

Our school has signed up for the 2018 Coles Sports for Schools Program. For every $10 spent at Coles, customers will receive a Sports for Schools voucher. If you have any family who shop at Coles, please ask them to save the vouchers for us. Bring these vouchers in to the collection box in the office. When the promotion ends the number of vouchers will be tallied and then our school will be able to purchase sporting equipment to that value. The promotion began on Wednesday and all support is greatly appreciated!

Water Safety Program

Our water safety program commence on Monday for our 3/4, 4/5 and 5/6 classes. Thank you to those families who have paid for their lessons already. The payment of $56 is due Friday 8th February, invoices were emailed and letters sent home this week.

Instrumental Music Lessons

Thank you so much for your continued patience with the delayed commencement of our instrumental

music program this year. Due to the change of teacher, change of days and then teacher illness the

program was not able to commence when intended. All students involved will meet with Mr Mike Rander,

our new instrumental music teacher, next week. Students are asked to bring their instruments and other

requirements, as outlined last year, to school on Tuesday next week. Lesson times will be given out so

both students and parents know these details ahead of time. Mr Rander is very keen to get started with

our musicians and is looking forward to a wonderful year of instrumental music.

Growth vs Fixed Mindset

During our student free days our teaching staff had the opportunity to explore the concept of Mindset and its influence on learning and success. Based on the work of Stanford University psychologist, Carol Dweck, the idea of mindset is related to our understanding of where ability comes from. We can use this as a tool to explore our knowledge of student achievement, and ways that such achievement might be improved.

According to Carol Dweck, in a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look ‘dumb’. In a growth mindset

students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it (Morehead 2012).

The crucial point for individuals is that these mindsets have a large impact upon our understanding of success and failure. Fixed mindset people dread failure, feeling that it reflects badly upon themselves as individuals, while growth mindset people instead embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and improve their abilities. The graphic beside captures the essence of the difference between the two mindsets when faced with a variety of life experiences.

We have to really send the right messages to children - that taking on a challenging task is what we admire. Sticking to something and trying many strategies, that’s what we admire. That struggling means you’re committed to something and are willing to work hard. Parents around the dinner table and teachers in the classroom should ask, ‘Who had a fabulous struggle today? (Morehead 2012) At Lota State School we are working hard to develop students’ growth mindsets so we can ‘celebrate the fabulous struggles’ on our life long journey as learners. If you have any questions about growth mindset, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher, Mrs Allison Blanch (Curriculum Coach) or Mrs Susan Hughes (Principal)

Medication

Does your child require medication during school hours?

If your child requires medication while at school, please ensure you request an Administration of

medication record sheet from the office.

You will also need to provide the school with the prescription-labelled medication in the original

packaging with clear directions for its use. Schools require medical authorisation to administer

any medication to students (including over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol or

alternative medicines).

Asthma Medication

If your child requires asthma medication at school, please provide:

A current asthma medication plan (available from your doctor).

An asthma puffer and spacer with a current expiry date.

Please check with the office to ensure your asthma sprays are in date, as a number have

expired.

Allergies & Epipens

If your child has allergies or requires an Epipen, can you please provide an updated plan and

confirm the following with the office:

What they are allergic to?

What are the effects?

Do they carry an Epipen?

Do they use an Epipen themselves or do they need assistance?

Some student’s files indicate they have allergies, but we do not have the specifics. If you could

drop into the office or email admin@lotass.eq.edu.au to ensure the correct information is on the

system.

For more information visit the Department of Education and Training

website (http://ppr.det.qld.gov.au/education/management/Pages/Administration-of-Medications-

in-Schools.aspx

Payments to the school

The school has gone cashless! The options for payment are:

BPoint (the information for BPoint will be on the invoice you receive)

EFT – there is an Eftpos machine in the office

Direct Debit:

Account Name: Lota State School

BSB: 064 115

Account Number: 00090278

Reference: Child’s Surname - Event

Library News

Last year Woolworths had a promotion that involved collecting Marvel characters on cog type plastic disks. If you happen to have a surplus of these that you would like to donate, please send them to the library as the children will then be able to use them for construction.

Book Club

Thank you for your continued support of book club at our school. The school receives a percentage of sales back for us to use for purchasing new resources. Issue 1 is out now. Please return to school by February 12th when it will be collated and sent to scholastic for processing. Please allow at least 2 weeks from the due date for the books to be sent home.

2018 School Priorities

Active School Travel

Our school has been selected as one of 16 new schools joining Brisbane City Council’s Active

School Travel (AST) program in 2018.

Active School Travel promotes clean and green, active and healthy school travel modes such as

walking, cycling, carpooling and public transport. Over the next three years, our school will

receive a range of free resources, tools and incursions to enable active travel to and from

school.

By leaving your car at home, at least one day a week on our active travel day, we can reduce

traffic congestion at the school gate, improve our students’ road safety awareness, create a

cleaner environment, and improve our health and fitness! Or if you have to drive, park the car

away from the school and actively travel the rest of the way. That’s Park & Stride.

More details to come early next year, and we strongly encourage you to be part of this great

initiative to change our school environment and culture.

Start thinking how you can use your car less travelling to and from school this year.

This will be a P&C and student council initiative led by Ms Jewell and Lisa Dawson.

Lota State School Bumper Stickers

Following the kind donation of our Lota State School bumper stickers, we are selling them for $2

each.

If you are proud to support our school, then please consider purchasing a bumper sticker from

the office.

School Information

Start of day times Students are to arrive at school after 8.30am for an 8.50am start time. Students are required to sit quietly under the green covered shade area until the bell has rung (except Prep students who are able to access the classroom from 8.30am). Please contact the office if you are running late so we can inform the class teacher. If you arrive after 8.50am, please go to the office to get your late slip. If you are picking your child up early for an appointment, please advise the office. You will need to collect a departure slip from the office before collecting your child. School concludes at 3pm. Uniform Formal School uniform is to be worn on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sports Uniforms are worn Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Fully enclosed black shoes are to be worn at all times. Visitors & Volunteers All visitors, including parents, who visit/volunteer within the school, need to sign in at the school office. Reading Groups started on Monday 5th February. If you are available to help please see the office. Parking around the school Please remember to park away from the school crossing zones to ensure the safety of all of our students and families. Please do not walk through the staff carpark as this poses a risk to staff and students. Dogs on School Premises As some children are afraid of dogs, please do not bring dogs into the school grounds. Hats and Water Bottles As the weather is very warm, can you please ensure your child has a hat and a full water bottle at school. Lota State School has a NO HAT NO PLAY rule.

Student Details Update

Parents are requested to immediately alert our Administration if there are any changes to your child’s details, including health status.

Our Administration staff keep all your child’s details up to date, so our contact and responses to you are timely and accurate. Medical Details are used in emergencies- for your child’s safety, please make sure your details are up to date. If you need to update any information, please email admin@lotass.eq.edu.au.

Every Child, Every Day, On Time

Time away from school impacts on student learning. Higher student attendance is linked with higher student achievement, builds social and emotional skills, communication, teamwork and resilience.

We urge families to ensure students arrive to school on time each day, especially as we are heading into peak assessment time. It would be appreciated, if at all possible, that appointments for students are made outside of school hours. However, for appointments during class time, it would be appreciated that a note is sent to the class teacher so that the child can be sent to the office in advance and then wait for the parent arrival. We value the work families do to ensure their child/children are here every day getting the most out of their primary education.