26 March 2020

Student Free Days The Queensland Government has today announced that an additional five (5) Student Free Days will be in place next week, from Monday 30 March to Friday 3 April inclusive. This means that while schools will remain open, the Term 1 break will start early for students and they will not attend school next week, unless they are children of essential workers or vulnerable children. Essential workers are those that must currently continue to attend their workplace during this difficult time. This includes early childhood and school staff. Schools are asked to provide supervision for children of these workers if they attend school next week. The Student Free Days have been provided to allow teachers to plan for continuity of student learning in the event that the education sector needs to move to flexible and remote learning at the commencement of Term 2. (Department of Education)

Congratulations to Denise French Congratulations Denise French for celebrating 14 years as our P&C Manager at Coolum State School. Denise plays an integral part in the success of our school and wider community. We thank Denise for her dedication, commitment, kindness and energy as she fulfils her daily responsibilities. (Pat Cavanagh)

P&C News Presidents Report 2019-2020 from Annual General Meeting (24 March 2020)

This past 12 months has seen some real highs and some challenges with the past month testing our

school community’s strength and resolve. I am very pleased to welcome everyone here tonight who is

either in person or via our new online option. In particular I’d like to acknowledge each of you who

have many other pressing issues but have given your time to be here. I wish to send our very best

wishes to each and every family member of our school as we all do our best to deal with the current

health and economic climate. The authorities have asked us all to stay in our villages. I believe Coolum

will adapt to this quickly because that is what we mostly do all year long such is the love we have for

where we live, work and go to school.

I welcome Principal Pat Cavanagh who has announced the postponement of his retirement to help us

navigate into Term 2. Our whole community is thankful (as our Facebook shows) in our appreciation of

this. Also thanks to all the P & C Executive: Clare Bates-Pay, Rebecca Eller and Lisa Nugent, who

have been very busy over the past weeks attending extra meetings - both formal and informal -drafting

plans for our ever changing staffing requirements and capabilities and working towards tonight’s AGM.

Special thanks to our P & C Manager Denise, who has been a Trojan with her workload and continues

after more than 14 years to still step up higher than any of us would ask for.

We commenced this year with strong support and solid financing for the Air Conditioning project which

then presented a challenge of first implementing a power network, including a major electrical upgrade.

Thanks to Sharyn our school’s Business Manager’s ever watchful eye and can-do attitude, we saw this

completed in February and an announcement soon after that the government would pay for all schools

to be air conditioned. This was perfectly timed with our final power works. Your P & C then made the

decision to wait and see when the government would commit to Coolum’s place in this roll out. Sadly

the Covid 19 crisis has put all of that on hold until we resume regular operations later this year. While

we are reprioritising our most important tasks given the current climate, the implementation of the final

stage is still high on our agenda.

By far our biggest challenge this year has been how to best manage the various business and staff the

P & C is responsible for. Over the past week Danielle our OSHC Director, Gayle our Tuckshop

Convenor, along with Denise, have been putting together plans and continuously updating them on

how to best protect both our wonderful staff and the businesses. We have plans in place to manage

the balance of the staff and are doing so on a case by case situation.

The second biggest challenge we faced this year is finding a fitting way to say thanks and farewell to

Pat who has been at the helm of our wonderful school for just over 22 years. A truly fitting

Patstravaganza was planned and is going to remain in hiatus until we can resume its delivery. I cannot

state strongly enough our entire P & C’s appreciation for the way Pat has led this school and the

amazing relationship he has built with the committee, our staff and the entire community. Pat is

genuinely a one of a kind and we were lucky to have him leave his mark on our school and the wider

community. As a result of his retirement we also have commenced a replacement process which

includes my participation on the selection panel. That process has also gone on hold until Term 2 but I

can advise the process is very robust and I expect a positive and strong result.

2020 will definitely be remembered as a bittersweet year for Coolum State School. We are privileged

to acknowledge the long and wonderful work of Pat as that comes to its fruition, we had another hugely

successful Coolum Carnival, helping us to further fund many projects around the school and we were

close to completing the air conditioning project under our own management and funding - now we wait

to see what the biggest challenge in 100 years will leave for us to rebuild on. I’m very proud to stand

with my fellow P & C committee members and say we have been working hard to deliver on behalf of

all parents and our community.

(Shane Urban – P. &C. President)

Parades Parades have been cancelled until further notice. (Pat Cavanagh) News from 4W Year 4 had a fabulous time at camp in Mapleton. We did a range of activities which included, Archery, Bush Skills, Orienteering, Flying Fox, Canoeing, Group Work Skills and Rafting. The class favourite for 4W was Orienteering. Luka liked that he got to do a range of things and to do them independently. Phrare enjoyed how they worked in a group and learnt wonderful things. Cruz and Bodie enjoyed Canoeing, while Ky and Isaiah loved Archery and the Flying Fox. Moses, Smith, Raiden and Leo liked orienteering because they got to travel around the whole camp and Smith was lucky enough to win an ipad (eye pad). Duke loved the Flying Fox because he got rid of his fear of heights. Ahniya really enjoyed Canoeing with Kiara. Abigail and Claudia had a fabulous time on the Flying Fox. Mason liked Archery and loved seeing the hunting bow. Canoeing was a hit with Ella Mi. and Sunny. Kayd liked making a fire in Bush Skills. Jackson had a fabulous time in all activities and enjoyed problem solving in the Team Initiatives. Ella Ma. and Lydia enjoyed Archery as they had never tried it before. Siena also liked Canoeing, while Indy and Sienna hit the target in Archery, however Ashton hit the swinging target. Duke enjoyed Canoeing with Ethan from 4M.

Dr Michael Carr Gregg’s tips on how to talk to kids about coronavirus

Full radio talk on:

https://www.3aw.com.au/dr-michael-carr-greggs-tips-on-how-to-talk-to-kids-about-coronavirus/

Parents shouldn’t avoid talking about it, because not talking about something can actually make young people more anxious. As a psychologist I'd encourage parents to use the conversation as an opportunity to convey the facts, with simple messages, all the while setting a positive, optimistic emotional tone. Parents should be purveyors of hope. The 6 main points to make are:

1. Reassure your child this is a virus not the plague, the fact is that most people only get a mild illness and fully recover within a few weeks

2. Remind them that children very rarely get sick and when they do it is usually just like a cold.

3. Describe what the main symptoms are and encourage them to let you know if they feel unwell.

4. Reassure them that their pets are not affected.

5. Tell them that we all have to change our behaviours, wash our hands more, practice not touching our face as much, learn coughing etiquette, and a foot tap instead of handshake.

6. Let them know about all the scientists across the world who are working together to find vaccines and treatments. If they are concerned about grandparents or others, validate this as a sign of how caring and loving they are and focus on positive messages about the medical care and support available. (Beth Sharry)

Curriculum Support - Learning at Home Thank you to parents who have contacted the school this week in light of Covid-19. Our teaching teams are working on more specific resources for our students. These will be distributed via parent email as they become available. You are able to access materials on the department’s learning@home website https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning-at-home

We also have a range of online learning tools available on our school website https://coolumss.eq.edu.au/curriculum/class-activities

Other ideas to extend your child’s thinking could include:

Board games Jigsaw puzzles Playing outside Lego Box construction Make believe games Cooking Cooperative games Gardening

Please contact the school office on 5471 9300 if you need to update your email details. This will ensure we are able to pass on information to you. (Karen Hatchman)

Notice from CommBank School Banking The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people is our first priority. Due to the rapidly developing situation with Coronavirus, school banking has been temporarily paused from 20 March 2020 until the start of Term 2. Please do not bring your deposit book with your weekly banking into school. We will notify you when banking will recommence. (Denise French-P&C)

Sport

PE

Please help your students to remember to bring a hat and water bottle to their PE class each week.

Cross Country

Our school Cross-Country event will be held on 30 April (Week 2, Term 2). I encourage all

students to start training now. Start small and increase your time or distance each week. The

school team will then compete at districts on 8 May.

Upcoming events Event Date Location Coolum Cross Country 30 April Coolum S.S Active body ……….Active Mind (Mr Moody-PE Teacher)

School Year 2020

Term 1 – Tuesday 28 January to Friday 3 April

Term 2 – Monday 20 April to Friday 26 June

Term 3 – Monday 13 July to Friday 18 September

Term 4 – Tuesday 6 October to Friday 11 December

Remember to update your details by email or with the Office if you have –

a new phone

moved house

started a new job

changed your contact details

School Contact Details

Address PO Box 374

School Road, Coolum Beach. 4573

Phone 5471 9300

Fax 5471 9307

Website www.coolumss.eq.edu.au

Email info@coolumss.eq.edu.au

Parades Senior – 8.40 am Junior – 9.20 am

Tuckshop Wednesday to Friday

Q Parents App & Facebook

Download the Q Parents app (it’s free) for instant access to the school

website or follow us on Facebook.

Uniform Shop Hours

The Uniform Shop is located at the P&C Room and opens every Tuesday,

Wednesday and Thursday 2.00 pm – 3.15 pm.

Monday and Friday 8.00 am – 9.00 am.

P&C Association

Meetings are the last Tuesday of each month, in the school staffroom at

7.00pm. All welcome

Outside School Hours Care

6.00 am to 8.30 am and after school from 2.40 pm to 10.00 pm

Phone: 5446 2026

Email: admin@coolumafterschoolcare.com.au

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