Term 2 Week 4 Newsletter

Principal's Report

Dear Stafford Heights State School Families,

Welcome to SHSS's First Interactive Newsletter!

We’re excited to share with you our very first interactive newsletter, designed to keep you connected with school life—wherever you are.  Whether you're on your PC, mobile phone or iPad, you can now access updates, news and important information anytime you have an internet connection.

Congratulations to Our Cross Country Team

A huge congratulations to our District Cross Country runners who represented Stafford Heights State School with commitment and spirit at last week’s district carnival. We are so proud of your effort, determination, and sportsmanship!

Communication at SHSS

At SHSS, we know that great things happen when schools and families work together. Clear and respectful communication helps us support every child’s learning, growth and wellbeing.

If you ever have questions or concerns, big or small, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our teachers are always happy to meet with you about your child’s progress, both socially and academically.

Parent teacher interviews will be held in Week 1 of Term 3, after Semester One Report Cards have been distributed. This allows for thoughtful and well-informed conversations based on the latest assessment information.

Staying in the Loop

There are plenty of ways to stay connected with what’s happening at SHSS:

• Fortnightly SHSS Newsletter
• School Assemblies
• Emails from class teachers
• SHSS Facebook Page
• SHSS OSHC Facebook Page

A Few Friendly Reminders

• Class teachers primarily use email to share class updates, reminders and important information.
• For matters that need a longer conversation, we kindly ask that you email the teacher to arrange a meeting time before or after school.
• As teachers are focused on students during the day, they may not see emails immediately. For urgent matters like a last minute change to pick up plans, please contact the school office.
• Our staff are committed to responding to emails within 48 hours (Monday to Friday)

Mother’s Day Stall

A big thank you to our amazing team of volunteers for putting together another wonderful Mother’s Day Stall. This much-loved tradition continues to bring smiles to our students as they carefully select a special gift for their mum or significant someone. We truly appreciate the time, care, and effort that goes into making this event such a success each year.

Uniform Reminder

With the cooler weather upon us, we kindly remind families that students should be wearing school-coloured winter uniform items such as jumpers, jackets, track pants, and leggings. Your continued support in upholding our uniform expectations helps foster a strong sense of pride and belonging within our school community. Please remember to name all items.

School Pick Up

At SHSS, school finishes each day at 3:00pm. Unsupervised children should not remain on our site to play games. As per the above information, parents supervising students should also be moving from our site by 3:15pm. To ensure the safety of all students our expectation would be that students move as quickly as possible to:

• Pick Up Zone
  • Please stay in your car and your child will be directed to the car 
  • Staff load the first 3 cars in the line
  • If your child is not there, we may ask you to move to a carpark 
  • Students should be seated in the seating area 
• Leave our school site if they are walking, riding or scootering home
• SHSS OSHC if they attend this service on any given afternoon

Sarah Abdy

Stafford Heights School Principal 

Head of Curriculum

Gold Rush comes to Stafford Heights

In HASS, students in Year 5/6 have been learning about the gold rushes in the 1800s. They have been studying the events and developments that led to the gold rushes happening. The significance of the Gold Rushes, the change it brought about to colonial Australia and an understanding of the points of view about the effects on colonial Australia. 

To get a real sense of the rush that occurred in finding gold students got to find their own gold and keep it and some even yelled ‘Eureka’ when they hit the gold jackpot.  Students didn’t get to pan for gold but got to look through the gardens and dirt to find their euphoria. It was down heartening for some as they didn’t find any gold however all had lots of fun doing this activity as you can see in the photos.  

Majella Cooper

Head of Curriculum

Year 5/6 students Gold Rush

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Head of Inclusion

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

NCCD is an annual collection of information about Australian school students with disability. The NCCD enables greater understanding of the needs and how best to support students at school. This term the school is verifying the adjustments and evidence surrounding supports for those students with a disability within our school community. The HIVE team welcome families to connect  them and the class teachers to have conversations surrounding engagement and learning as we review current supports that are in place. As a school team with have been engaging in Adjustment meetings and have had positive dialogues surrounding small group and individual targeted supports across the school.

Autism HUB, Education Queensland

This week the HIVE would like to shine a light on the Autism HUB. The HUB has created many resources to help families and schools support the educational learning of students with autism.

SAVE THE DATE: ECDP- Nursery Rhyme Fun  

The ECDP is coordinating a fun Nursery Rhyme themed playgroup morning for all our families within our Stafford Heights community who have a child under the age of 5. We welcome you to join us to connect as a community and have some fun together in week 10 of this term. Please refer to flyer attached for further information.  

Shelley Kemp

Head of Inclusion

Enrolments

What to Include in an Enrolment Application

• Proof of address and residency documents
• State School Consent and school permission forms
• original birth certificate for each child
• passport and visa for any children born overseas
• recent report card
• Any relevant medical information and health action plans.
• Any current court orders or custody details related to the enrolling child/ren
• Any other information that you consider important for us to know about your child/ren.
• For students with an international passport and an Australian visa the following are also required: 
• visa grant notice from the Department of Home Affairs. Please note, a VIVO check does not provide details necessary for school enrolment.
• passport photo page.
• An official, English translation of their birth certificate may be requested.
• An Authority to Enrol in a Queensland State School is required for all subclass TR500 visas and is arranged by contacting Education Queensland International External link External link.
• All temporary visa holders should refer to Education Queensland International  External link External link to determine if an Authority to Enrol is required for their visa subclass.

Once you have completed the necessary forms, please return them (along with the necessary documents) to admin@staffordheightsss.eq.edu.au or alternatively contact Sonia Yates our enrolments Officer directly.

Pre Prep News

PREP ENROLMENTS FOR 2026

Applications for Prep 2026 are now being accepted.

If you have a sibling that is due to start in 2026 please make sure you come and see us in the office to receive an enrolment pack.

Please visit our school website at: https://staffordheightsss.eq.edu.au/enrolments to download our enrolment forms or alternatively collect from administration.

Please note: Our school is now catchment managed therefore we require the following documents to be sent through with the enrolment forms and permission forms.

The right age for Prep 2026 is for all children born between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021. Our Prep program is planned and designed to cater for all children at all levels of development who are born in this 12 month period

General School Information

Office Reminders

• Office Hours – 8.15am-3.15pm

• No Hat No Play Outside

* Student Birthday’s

If your child is celebrating a birthday and would like to bring cake to school to celebrate with the class please make sure that you contact the teacher or the office to ask how many students are in the class. We ask that you bring in something that can be easily given out to students for eg: cupcakes, freddo frogs and zooper doopers. (Please note: no full sized cakes as classrooms do not have the facilities to cut up slices to hand out)

• Students with Long Hair - All students with long hair should tie their hair back with a blue hair tie while at school (as 
per the Stafford Heights SS Student Dress Code)

• Early Pick Up of Students - If you need to pick up your child early throughout the day please come up to the 
office and sign your child out on the IPad.

• Medication at School - If your child requires medication at school, please bring the medication in the original 
packaging with a label from the chemist along with a letter from the Doctor stating the child’s name, medication, dosage and time to administer. You will then be required to fill out forms to give us permission to administer this medication during school hours.
Please note: where the dosage of a medication requires tables to be halved, we have to request that parents/carers supply a pill cutter, labelled with your child’s name.

• Family Holiday’s during School Term – if your family is going on a holiday during the school term, please email the office to inform them of the dates so that we know why your child will be absent from school. If the time away from school 10 school days or more the office will require you to fill out a specific form.

• Students Late to School – if your child is late to school (arrive after 9am), please make sure you come to the office first to receive a late slip to hand to their teacher. 

• Animals on School Premises – Please note that no animals are to enter school grounds at all as per the signs on each of our school fences.

• Student Absences – please remember to advise the office when your child is away from school. Please note: all Unexplained 
absences are noted in a child’s Report card.

1. Leave a message on 3621 2333 OR
2. SMS: 0426 305 697 OR
3. QParents App – Submit Absence OR
4. Email: admin@staffordheightsss.eq.edu.au

Even though absences may result in missed learning opportunities, the main reason we ask that you notify us when your child is away is so we are made aware that your child is SAFE.

School Photo Day - Wednesday 18th June

Envelopes will be coming home with your child in the next couple of weeks so keep a look out in their bags (see details below)

Sibling Photos

If you have more than one child at this school, you will be given an envelope with the option to purchase a sibling photo. ALL Sibling photos are taken BEFORE school at 8:15am in the Hall. We ask that parents ensure that they take their children to the hall at this time to wait for the sibling photo to be done.

QParents

We’re streamlining our office processes by making the most of QParents and encourage all parents to create an account. It’s a user-friendly portal which provides secure online access to information about your child’s schooling including attendance, report cards, invoices and payment history. QParents also provides ease of viewing and updating your child’s details (including address and medical conditions) and helps both schools and parents through improved administration efficiencies and reduced printing and mail-outs. Please see the QParents Fact Sheet below for details about how to sign up.

Student Awards

Student of the Week - Week 2

Respect Award - Week 2

PBL News - Keep your hands and feet to yourself

Week 4

Our focus this week is to Keep your hands and feet to yourself which falls under Respect for Others and Responsible Decision Making.  

This week we are going to explore the options available when a student is faced with a challenge that they would rather avoid and are tempted to use their hands/feet to solve the problem – or in reality, just avoid it. We will remind the students that they have the choice to make a snap decision and use physical contact or they could make the strong choice and ask for help. They should Stop, Hold, Select to Succeed.

In class, students will come up with alternative strategies with their teachers that they can fall back on when they feel that they must resort to using physical contact i.e. deep breath and try again later, ask for help from an adult, try the learning wall for some help if the teacher is busy etc.

At home, you might like to discuss strategies that work well outside of school and collaboratively think of ways that your students could apply these to their school day. Alternatively, at times of frustration at home, you could encourage your child to Stop, Hold Select & Succeed in order to practice the process.

Health & Physical Education

Gala Sport:

Gala sport commences this Friday 9^th May.  We wish all the students participating all the best.

North District Cross County

On Wednesday 7^th May, 15 Students participated in the North District Cross Country at Pine Rivers Park.  They all put in an incredible effort on a rather challenging track.

Thanks to Ms Emma who managed the team while Mrs Jardine worked on a variety of other jobs in an official capacity for North District.

Term 2 – Before School Activity.

We will continue with skipping on Monday Mornings at 8.30 and running on Wednesday Mornings at 8.30 this term weather permitting.  For those who like to run on a Wednesday – it might be a good idea to pack a spare pair of running shoes and a plastic bag if you have them, the morning dew is getting heavier with the colder mornings and shoes are getting very damp.

Students are to wait in the blue area on both mornings to be collected by the relevant staff member.  Remember, you must have a hat and be wearing it to participate.

District Team Trials.

Over recent months a number of students have been trialling for representative teams in a variety of sports. 

Selected in Met North Team:

• Jack – Hockey

Selected in North District Team:

• Noah – Rugby Union
• Max T and Jack A – Hockey

Direct to Met North Trial:

• Mary – AFL

North District Team Trials:

• Dylan – AFL
• Brooklyn – AFL
• Joe – Rugby League
• Henry – Soccer
• Sol – Soccer

Well done to everyone and congratulations to those who were selected into teams.

Arts News (Dance, Drama, Music)

Over the past fortnight many exciting things have been happening in the Performing Arts space.  

On Thursday afternoon of Week 2 Preps to Year 2 were visited by Flying bookworm Theatre Company to perform three classic fairytale stories. During the performance students acted out key parts with their voice and movement. Also a few lucky students were selected from the audience to adorn a costume and become part of the performance for the afternoon.

For our Year 3- 6 learners a note went home last week about an upcoming incursion in Week 10. The incursion is with Rhythm Culture where students will participate in African drumming and dance. It should be a fun experience for all involved. If you have not received a note, please see the office.

Spotlight on Year 1

This term students in Year 1 are continuing with their unit work from last term. In Dance they have started to choreograph their partner dances of celebration. In music they have continued to develop their aural skills by echoing and playing simple rhythms, singing familiar songs and playing games to explore beat and tempo. See photos below of some of their great learning.  

Class News - 4A & 4B

Term 2 has been a lot of fun so far for the Year 4s. In Science we have been looking at how things grow with a focus on life cycles of living things. Each student got to make their own ‘grass head’ to observe the germination process.   

We also had an absolute blast at this year’s colour run thanks to our fantastic P&C.

Year 4 Fun

Student Council

Stafford Heights Student Council: Working Together to Make a Difference!

Our latest School Council meeting was full of great ideas and positive energy as we continued working toward improving our school grounds. Although we recently heard back from the Beachmere community group—who sadly can't support us due to our distance—we’re staying optimistic and now focusing on finding organisations closer to home. The Council is exploring local partnerships, with suggestions like McDonald's and Bendigo Bank already on the list. We’re calling on all classes to brainstorm more businesses or community groups we can approach for support!

We also discussed some fun and creative fundraising ideas that could really bring the school community together—think pyjama days, readathons, car washes, and even a talent show! A big thank you to Bella and Wilfred for their outstanding work presenting these plans at assembly. Your enthusiasm really inspired the rest of us! There’s even the possibility of teaming up with a circus company or reaching out to a local oil and gas business—how exciting!

Moving forward, the P&C will be invited to an upcoming meeting, so we can work together to make our fundraising efforts even more successful. Student Council reps are encouraged to bring class ideas to the next meeting—every voice matters.

Together, we can achieve amazing things for Stafford Heights State School!

Instrumental News

Instrumental Lessons are well underway for the year, and beginner instrumental students are working hard on learning their first few notes! Instrumental Music students are reported on twice per year (once per Semester).

Fees

Please ensure payment has now been made for Instrument hire and levy fees. Thank you!

ECDP (Early Childhood Development Program)

Library News

All Students have the opportunity to visit the library and borrow books once throughout the week with their classroom teacher. All Classes have been having lots of fun choosing what they will be reading especially the Preps being their first year at school.

Your child's class teacher at the beginning of the year would have notified you of the day that they visit the Library for borrowing. Please make sure that your child brings their library bag on this day (with book that they borrowed the previous week) to ensure that they can re borrow that day.

Happy Reading!

P&C

Last newsletter we mentioned how busy this fortnight would be with the Colour Run, Mother's Day Stall, Election BBQ, and Mother's Day Raffle - what a fantastic effort these events turned out to be! Biggest thanks to Tamara and the OSHC crew for the Colour Run, Sal for the Election BBQ and Bake Sale, and Nicole for the Mother's Day Stall. Congratulations to the below winners of the Mother's Day Raffle.

Our next P&C meeting is next week (Tuesday 20th of May from 6:30pm in the Library). Please join us as we review our revenue to date, contribute to problem solving any challenges or barriers we may have in our P&C-run businesses, organise our upcoming events, and combine our creativity to continue raising funds for our school needs.

Next event will be our THE LORAX Movie Night - Friday 13th of June from 4:30pm. As well as the film, there will be activities, face paint, a visit from emergency services, a sausage sizzle, and hopefully food trucks for more options! If you have any Food Truck connections that are available for this event please let us know. Ideally we would have a dessert option and a vegetarian/halal option. Please note that the Redwood Street driveways will be closed from 4pm for safety and secure access as the event is set up and held. For OSHC pick-up after 4pm, please use the Finch Street access point.

Finally, National Reconciliation Week is just over a week away and this year's theme is Bridging Now to Next. We pride ourselves in being a multicultural school with a prioritised focus on Respect. As non-indigenous Australians, the SHSS staff and P&C Acknowledge that this land of teaching and learning has a deep history of Knowledge-Holders that pre-date our ties to this Place, and I embrace the privilege of focusing on what's Next for our diverse local community. Please reach out to myself, Sarah Abdy, Alec Warner or Aunty Flo if you would like to have a yarn.

Tuckshop & Uniform Shop

Hi Parents and Carers,

What a big few weeks in my new role as tuckshop and uniform shop co-ordinator. Firstly, thank you to the children and parents who have been understanding as I find my feet in an entirely new role. It is a pleasure to be a part of the SHSS community.

Tuckshop
Over the course of Term 2 I would like to encourage each family to transition to online ordering through School24 for both tuckshop and uniform shop. The cut off time has now been amended to 9am. Term 3 will see us move to over the counter ordering only after 9am. If you need assistance in setting up your School24 account, please come and see me at the tuckshop. Your children are of course welcome to purchase snacks during the breaks over the counter with cash - we all remember how fun that was!

I'm excited to share that this Friday 16th of June will see our first Friday special - PIZZA! Students will be able to choose from a slice of homemade margherita, ham and cheese or chicken pizza when ordering online. We will be using our secret hidden veg pizza sauce because any opportunity to get some extra nutrition, right? Priced at $4.50 per slice.

Uniform Shop
I do apologise for the delay in getting some uniforms ordered through School24 to children. All outstanding deliveries should have been delivered as of last Friday morning. Please send me an email if you have any queries. Working parents - if you need a jumper for your child with the cooler weather, please order through School24 (our school ID is: 25301963) and I will happily deliver it to their classroom, or they can collect it the same day from me.

I'm excited to share that this Friday 16th of June will see our first Friday special - PIZZA! Students will be able to choose from a slice of homemade margherita, ham and cheese or chicken pizza when ordering online. We will be using our secret hidden veg pizza sauce because any opportunity to get some extra nutrition, right? Priced at $4.50 per slice.

Until next time,   

Jess

OSHC News

The past few weeks have been full of creativity and energy at OSHC! A recent highlight has been the incredible sandcastle creations in the outdoor sandpit. Inspired entirely by the children’s own ideas, the group worked together to build an impressive volcano island—complete with flowing lava channels. It’s been wonderful to see their imaginations come to life! 

Meanwhile, Red Rover has taken over the playground as the current favourite game, with daily rounds filled with laughter, excitement, and plenty of running. 

See you at the service,
The SHOSHC Team

Community News