Remembrance Day

This Remembrance Day, RSL is asking all Australians to Remember to Remember – to commit to pausing for just one minute to remember those who gave their lives in service to their country, those who returned home injured or ill, and those who bravely serve our country today. This week on Thursday 11 November we will pause as a school at 11:00am to observe a minute`s silence to reflect on the great sacrifice that these men and women made and continue to make to ensure our country remains safe and free.                           

Celebrations of Learning

Tomorrow we are holding our Celebrations of Learning. Classrooms will be open from 8:30am to 9:30am and from 2:30pm to 3:30pm. The great learning that has taken place in our classrooms is certainly something to celebrate and I encourage parents to come along, even for just a short time, to enjoy the pride and joy that our students and teachers feel about the work they have done this year.

Student Leaders 2022

Over the last two weeks our Year Five students have been involved in the first stage of the process around selecting student leaders for 2022. I had the pleasure of being part of the interview process and was so pleased to hear our students talk with pride about their school and also about the sense of belonging they have here at Corinda and the support they receive from staff. The interview process was followed by selected students giving speeches to an audience of parents, staff and students. As a community we should be proud of the outstanding quality of all the speeches. The students were amazing and I feel confident all our Year 5 students will be great leaders and role models in 2022. Following a voting process, we were able to announce our School and Vice Captains for next year. Congratulations to 2022 School Captains, Zoe S and Eli J, and 2022 Vice Captains Therese S and Jian L.

Tuckshop Day

Last Friday was Tuckshop Day and the efforts of Keith and his helpers, P&C and all volunteers are greatly appreciated. Our tuckshop provides a great service that helps out families who have to juggle many different tasks at the start of the day. We don’t take their hard work for granted – and would encourage even more parents to put up their hands and get involved with our school.

School Review

Our School Review is now just a week away, 15 November-17^th November. The Reviews are conducted using an appreciative inquiry approach meaning that their will be a focus on our strengths with some recommendations around next steps for us as a school. We are excited about the opportunity to share our work with the reviewers, especially the work we have done around our 2021 priorities of Assessment Literate Learners, Cultures of Thinking and Connectedness and Character.  Students will also have an opportunity to share their thoughts about Corinda SS and reviewers will be out and about at pick up times to chat with parents.

Have a wonderful week,

Carmel.

Teaching and Learning

The school is a hive of activity with student learning as this week marks the half way mark of term 4. Students and teachers are busy preparing for assessment tasks prior to reporting in week 10.

Parents and carers are reminded that classrooms will be open for Celebrations of Learning tomorrow morning and afternoon. It is hoped that the session times will allow visits to each of your child’s classrooms during this time, either before or after school.

When? Wednesday 10 November 8.30-9.30am or 2.30-3.30pm

Successful Transitions for 2022

Successful Transitions was a new two-part process implemented at the end of 2020. ‘The Must Know’ – puts important information on your ‘radar’ (Term 4) and ‘The Need to Know’- Class/student Information (Term 1). This process is and designed to support the transition of all students from one-year level to the next, new class teacher/cohort and learning environment. Successful Transitions give teachers an initial starting point in getting to know their students and creating and maintaining supportive, inclusive and safe environments.

Ensuring Successful Transitions for 2020

Did you know?

• Transition begins well before a child starts school and ends when the child feels safe, secure and has a sense of belonging. Our new Prep students for 2022 have started attending Pre-prep Playgroup on a Friday morning.
• Prep students have been visiting Year 1 classrooms to support their transition to Year 1

• Teachers and leaders will complete Stage 1 of a two-stage handover process in week 9 to ensure a smooth transition for current students in 2022. Stage 1 is designed to inform all teachers working in that year level cohort of important information about students that pertain to general learning ability, medical conditions, learning adjustments and specialist reports.

• Stage 2 will take place during the Pupil Free Days at the start of 2022 and is specific to the individual teacher’s classroom and goes deeper in terms of individual students. Teachers will have access to previous assessment, student file and reports.
• ‘Meet the Teacher’ - All current students will visit their teacher and classroom for 2022 on the final Thursday morning of term. New students (Year 1-6) commencing at Corinda in 2022 are also invited to attend 
• Postcards will be sent home following classroom visits indicating your child’s teacher, class, room location, uniform shop hours and when the school office reopens next year
• On Friday 21 January classrooms will be open from 8.30-9.30am for book pack drop off. Take the time to visit and meet your child’s teacher and classroom for next year.

Parents and families play an important part in supporting their children to transition successfully from one year to the next.

How can I help my child with a positive start in 2022?

• React positively to your child’s new class placement. Some students may not have all of their friends in the same class next year but view this as an opportunity to form new friendships. Remind them that they can still meet up and play with friends in other classrooms during eating and break times.
• Ask them what they did during their classroom visit and what they are looking forward to next year.

​Consideration in the classroom and with your friends

The CSTAR focus for this fortnight is Consideration, with a particular focus on developing and maintaining friendships. Teachers will be teaching lessons and exploring thinking around these 3 main questions:

• What is friendship?
• How do you be a good friend?
• What do you when conflict arises in friendships?

Our job as adults is to work with our young people so that they can develop strategies when conflict occurs. Conflict resolutions skills are a life-skills that we are here to help students develop. Some top tips for developing conflict resolution skills:

• Listen first
• Take your own emotions out of the equation
• Agree on facts
• Offer compliments
• Maintain good relationships
• Look for the cause
• Learn and notice non-verbal communication cues

I recently had the chance to apply some new learnings from professional development on trauma informed practice. These strategies can be used with anyone who needs support.

The story goes: As a family we were needing to leave the house by 4:30pm to get to Redcliffe (love long weekend traffic) for a dance performance. My 13-year-old had been prepped about these plans however he decided to settle himself into afternoon snacks, YouTube and with his noise cancelling headphones; generally chilling out. I politely asked him to get ready.

Then all hell broke loose: there were sudden tears, pushing chairs around, and then storming off. Basically, a short fuse meltdown. My first instinct was to hurry him a long and say something like, “I told you….” Instead I applied CAVE

Compassionately

Acknowledge and

Validate with

Empathy

My words were something like, “I can see you hot and tired and want to have a rest. Pause. How can I help you”? Immediately all the wind went out of his sails and off he went to get ready. I stood there dumbfounded with my mouth hanging open. The CAVE worked! I will be definitely be trying it again.

Some fun facts:

1. How many neurons in the adult human brain?

1. 186 billion     b. 86 million         c. 86 billion           d. 186 million

2. How many neurons are created daily?

      a. 7                         b. 70                       c. 700                     d. 7000

3. How long for the human brain to reach maturity?

      a. 16 years            b. 18 years           c. up to 25 years                 d. never

4. Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for our threat detection system (Fight, Flight, Freeze or Collapse response)

       a. Thalamus         b. Hippocampus  c. Amygdala        d. Corpus Callosum                           

The answers are C            

School captains

Well done to all the students that presented a speech on Thursday afternoon. It was amazing to see the students put themselves out there. They were all excellent and it was tough call for the voters. Corinda State School’s 2022 captains are: Zoe S and Eli J and vice captains are: Therese S and Jian L. Sports captains will be elected this week.

Debating

We had our final teacher Vs student debate in week 5. Again the students were victorious.

Rotary wraps for 2021

It has been a very rewarding year, working with the year 6 Rotary students. The young Rotarians have worked hard and helped the community, as well as the school with a range of interesting projects. It is exciting to note, that these children may possibly become our future leaders. The students forward to displayed their work and their booklets at the Rotary Dinner last Thursday night at the Sherwood RSL. 

Jane Bluett, Macquarie Rankin and Peter Black

Year 6 Art Gallery excursion

On Tuesday the 2^nd of November all the Year 6s went on excursion to the Queensland Art Gallery and GOMA at Southbank. We caught the train and we arrived at the Art Gallery. We saw amazing and cool paintings and great pictures of animals at the amazing gallery. Thank you to all the parents who came to the excursion.

Ethan S, 6D

Remembrance Day 11 November 2021

Poppies 50 cents

Wrist Bands $3

On sale in the office this week.

Money raised goes to the Sherwood RSL

All Schools Touch Football

Over the weekend, Corinda SS sent a girls team to compete in the Queensland Primary All Schools Touch carnival held in Redland Bay. It was an enormous carnival with over 150 teams competing from across the state. The level of touch football played by all teams was phenomenal and a true challenge for all competitors.

Over the two days, we played five games, winning three and losing two highly competitive games (one loss was to the eventual runner-up of the championship division and the other was to the winner of the cup division). We ended up finishing in the top 24 teams in QLD – pretty exceptional for a group of girls who before last year, had never played a game of touch in their lives.

As a school, we should be extremely proud of this team for not only the exceptional level of touch football they played against very talented teams but for the commitment they showed through attendance at training sessions held in their time and giving up their weekend to represent Corinda. This team has shown tremendous desire to improve and the girls thoroughly deserved their amazing results.

Thanks goes as well to the parents who gave up their weekend to support their children in this endeavour.

Congratulations Angie, Ava, Adelyn, Emma, Meg, Leteesia, Mia and Lucinda.

Swimming Carnival

Just a reminder that our swimming carnival will be held on Thursday 2 December for our students born from 2009-2012. If you could please return your permission slip to classroom teachers ASAP, it would be greatly appreciated.

A reminder that we’re looking for volunteers to assist with timekeeping as well as helping some of our students in the water (this role can often be filled by older siblings). If you’re able to assist on the day, please email me at kdohe33@eq.edu.au.

We are currenlty in the process of finalising enrolments and classes for 2022.  If your child/ren will not be returning next year could you please advise the office as soon as possible.  Thank you

email :  admin@corindass.eq.edu.au

A number of cases of head lice have been reported recently in various year levels. 

It is extremely important for you to check your child’s head for head lice TODAY. 

If you do find head lice, commence treatment immediately and be sure to complete the process of treatment. This will help prevent head lice from spreading.

Remember to keep checking your family member’s heads every 2 days until there are no head lice found for 10 consecutive days.

For further information regarding treating head lice, refer to the Department of Health’s Head Lice fact sheet available at  http://access.health.qld.gov.au/hid/InfectionsandParasites/Parasites/headLice_fs.asp  

Your local pharmacist can provide advice regarding head lice treatment options and head lice combs.

Because head lice need close head-to-head contact to spread from one person to another, to reduce the spread of head lice, teachers will discourage students from activities which may involve head to head contact.

To reduce your child’s risk of getting head lice, make sure that long hair is tied up and discourage children from sharing their brushes and combs and having head to head contact with others.

Remember - Anyone can get head lice – they have no preferences for cleanliness, hair colour, hair type, ethnicity or age.

If for any reason you are having difficulties treating the head lice on your child effectively, please contact the school.

Thank you to everyone who supported the Colour Run4Fun.  With your support, we have fundraised $29,412! We couldn’t have done it without the generosity of our school community. Thank you!  

Congratulations to 1L for being the class that created the most profile pages.  Every student in 1L has won a handball! 

Congratulations to Prep D for being the class that raised the most money, $2571!!!  Every student in Prep D will be getting a special treat from the tuckshop! 

And, for all the students that fundraised, your prizes are on the way! They should arrive at school in a few weeks. Stay tuned! 

The Tuckshop is in NEED of volunteers, without more support from the community we will need to look at a reduction of menu items for the rest of the year and into the next year. No experience necessary!! If you have time to give even 1 hour of your time on Wed Thurs or Fri mornings Keith would be so appreciative and we will be able to continue the range of items that the tuckshop can provide. Just pop on in or email csstshop@gmail.com. 

NEXT P&C MEETING TUESDAY 23 November 7pm School Library – This is one week later than normal due to the School Review happening the week before. Please join us for the last meeting of the year where we will be working on a strategic plan and events calendar for the new year as well as to learn more about what is going on at the school and P&C.

7 life lessons I have learnt from jig-saw puzzles

“An unfinished jig-saw puzzle has always sat on the table at my parent’s house. When we visit, it doesn’t take long before we are gathered around the table, absorbed in the emerging picture, examining the puzzle pieces and trying to match them and fill the available gaps.

My father and mother had a very practical approach to teaching their six kids important life skills. They rarely ‘lectured’ or ‘preached’, rather they excelled at finding aspects of activities or situations where they could get us thinking about what we could learn from what we were doing.

Thanks to the hundreds of jig-saw puzzles we have done over the years, I’ve learned a lot about problem solving. In fact, I’ve used these learnings as ‘guide posts’ to help me meet the challenges I have encountered in life.

So today, I would love to share these insights with you in the hope that you may find these helpful when facing your own challenges.

1. Start with the end in mind.

Most jig-saw puzzles come in a box that shows a picture of what the finished product will look like. There is a clear goal we are working towards. If we know what we are trying to achieve, it is easier to map out steps to achieve the goal. It is important to keep looking back at the picture – to see where the parts fit into the whole.

2. Put boundaries in place.

When doing a puzzle, we usually start with the edge pieces. This sets the boundaries around the project. It is important to be clear about boundaries, what is in, what is out, what is my responsibility, what is not, what is within my control, what is not!

3. Only bite off what you can chew.

The biggest puzzle I have done was 1500 pieces, the smallest was eight pieces. There are factors to consider when choosing the size of the puzzle. It is important to firstly assess your environment, your ability and the resources you have available. While there is limited fun to be found in an eight-piece puzzle, starting a 500-piece puzzle over a 30-minute lunch at McDonalds just won’t work.

4. Match your approach to your situation.

Different parts of the puzzle benefit from different approaches. Sometimes matching colours is the best strategy, or matching shapes, or sometimes trial and error is the only way!

5. Celebrate your successes.

We tend to start with the edge, then the sections of the puzzle that will be the easiest. The flowers of the field with their varying colours and shapes are formed fairly quickly under our busy hands. We stop often to admire our achievement and happily chatter away. Then we come to a solid block of blue sky only discoloured by the occasional puff of white cloud. Nerves become more frazzled as the tedious ‘trial and error’ method must be employed, we celebrate our successes with an exclamation of ‘got a piece in’ which, when the going is slow, warrants a cheer and congratulations.

6. Start with what you can do, not what you can’t.

With a puzzle one tends to work on patches that seem easy. If you are stuck, move to a different part or simply look at what you are working on from a different angle. Sometimes it is best to put the puzzle on hold and come back afresh.

7. Know when to walk away.

This last ‘lesson’ is one that I have found particularly difficult. Recently, for the first time ever, we actually gave up on a puzzle. We pulled apart what we had done and put it back in the box. After many hours working on it my mother and I decided that it was just not worth continuing. As we solemnly packed it away, we reflected on times when we have pushed forward in what we thought was perseverance when time showed it to have been simply obstinance. While never giving up is a great catch cry, sometimes the struggle and fall out of continuing is simply not worth it

Most activities we engage in with kids lend themselves to lessons. So, whether it is soccer, swimming, monopoly or even a computer game, it is worth taking the time to join in and help your kids discover their own life lessons through the activities they do”.

https://www.suqld.org.au/blog/category/family-space/#7-life-lessons-i-have-learnt-from-jig-saw-puzzles

Kindness, Hedy (Mrs V)

GARAGE SALE TRAIL WEEKEND opportunity for not for profit charity (overseas mission) from 8-2pm on both Saturday 13th and 20th November at 18 Teesdale Street Corinda.

Collector's books for sale as well as great non fiction all genres and some classic non fiction, DVD's, household effects, handbags, shoes, clothing, accessories, linen, gifts.

All welcome!