Newsletter Term 1 Week 5 2024
Principal's Message
Thank you to all the students and parents who have warmly welcomed me to Mabel Park State School (MPSS). It has been great meeting so many new people. I am greatly looking forward to getting to know everyone, and working hard to achieve great things here at MPSS.
A little bit of information about me, I am 44 years old and have two children, aged 21 and 18 years. I was born in Samoa, and am half Samoan and half New Zealander. I have lived in Australia since I was nine. I have previously been a Principal in Kingaroy, Charleville, Ayr and Ingham, however I began my teaching career 20 years ago in Brisbane. In my spare time I like cooking, exercising and watching Rugby Union and the NRL. It has been great moving back to Brisbane and I am excited and privileged to be appointed as Principal here at Mabel Park.
Masina Taule’alo
Principal
Newsletter
I believe that regular communication between the school and home is extremely important, to keep families updated about their child’s school and education. A key aspect of this communication is our fortnightly newsletter. These will now be digital and will be sent out fortnightly.
Facebook Page
Our school has a Facebook page which we use to communicate with families and the wider school community. I would strongly encourage all parents and carers to like/follow our page. This will help keep you up-to-date and informed about everything that is happening at our school. A link to our page is below;
https://www.facebook.com/Mabelpark0356
Meeting with the Principal
Being new to Mabel Park SS, I am very interested in getting to know as many families as possible. If you would like to arrange a brief meeting with me, please contact the office to book a time/day that suits you. This meeting could be about just meeting me and saying g’day, or we could discuss anything you like about the school.
Junior Campus Deputy Principal
Welcome to 2024
Hello! It has been wonderful to see how well our Junior Campus students have settled back into school life. Welcome to all our new Prep families. We hope your child has enjoyed their first few weeks of school. At Mabel Park, we believe that communication between home and school is really important and we encourage you to keep in contact with your child’s teacher. We will have our first parent teacher interviews for the year in Week 9 (Tuesday 19th of March). Keep an eye out for details on our Facebook page. If you would like to contact me, please email me at abell41@eq.edu.au.
Alexis Bell
Brain Food Breaks
This year, we have switched our eating times and play times around for both first and second break. This means that students go straight out to play, then return to their eating areas after play to eat their lunch. To help sustain students throughout the morning, most of our classes have incorporated a Brain Food Break. We are encouraging children to bring a snack that is a healthy choice to keep their brains energised. Fresh fruit and vegetables are a great choice, as is popcorn or a small sandwich.
Middle Campus Deputy Principal
Welcome back to all of our existing Mabel Park families and a warm welcome to the new families that have joined us this year. Thanks to the excellent preparation by our school staff and the support of our families, students in years 5 and 6 have experienced a smooth start to the 2024 school year.
Our students have quickly adapted back into school life and are focused on their learning and following our school values of Trust, Courage and Respect.
Our Year 6 student leaders have been very busy this year leading the way and so far and have set a wonderful example for our other students to follow. They have been busy learning to run our school parades and doing a brilliant job. Looking forward to many more leadership opportunities this term.
Sonya Wright
Attendance-Every Day Counts
Every day counts is a state-wide initiative that aims to assist in improving student attendance at school through a shared commitment by students, parents, caregivers, schools and the community.
'Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind'.
Why it’s important
We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day. If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school. There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes. Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement in numeracy, writing and reading.
What we can do
The main reasons for absence are:
Sickness – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. It’s vital that they’re only away on the days they are genuinely sick, and that you notify the school when this occurs. Setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can have a positive impact in reducing absence caused by illness.
If you’re having attendance issues with your child, please let the school know so we can work together to get your child to school every day. For more information and resources to help address attendance issues, visit: https://education.qld.gov.au/initiatives-and-strategies/initiatives/every-day-counts
Awards
We really enjoy acknowledging our students that are following our school values. We do this fortnightly on our Year 5 and 6 middle campus parade with Student of the Week and Golden Gotchas. I look forward to an amazing term celebrating the wonderful achievements of all of our students in years 5 and 6.
Up to date information
Did you move in the holidays, has your family situation changed, or have your contact details changed? Please ensure your contact details are up-to-date with the school. Contact the office on 3386 5333, to change your details.
In times of emergency, we need up-to-date contact information for parents and carers as well as emergency contacts. The school also sends out important information via various channels such as email, and sms. The correct contact information for students is vital.
Teaching and Learning at Mabel
Supporting your child with Reading
We know that learning to read is life-changing, with almost everything we do involves reading and writing. At each stage of schooling, families and carers play an important role in supporting children to read and learn about the world around them.
The Department of Education and P&Cs Queensland are holding community sessions to provide information on Queensland’s Reading Commitment and supporting reading at home.
- Topic: Supporting children’s reading at home
- Dates: 21 February and 13 March 2024
- Time: 6:30pm – 7:15pm
- Audience: Parents and Carers of Prep to Year 2 students
- Registration: https://www.ivvy.com.au/event/KLCA5Y/
When registering, you will be provided with the opportunity to submit questions you would like answered.
NAPLAN – 13th – 22nd March
- For Year 3 and Year 5 students;
- The test questions are presented in Standard Australian English dialect;
- Students read some of the questions and listen to others with headphones;
- The tests will get easier or harder, depending on how students are going in the test;
- Students do four different tests.
- If you do not want your child to participate, please discuss with your classroom teacher.
Student Services at Mabel
A warm welcome back to 2024.
It’s been great to see students learning and achieving in classrooms from the start of the year. Make every day count in 2024. Research shows that students who have good patterns of attendance are more likely to achieve at school. If students aren’t at school, they are missing valuable lessons. It is critical that student attendance remains a priority to support the teaching and learning that is taking place. Congratulations to our PREP cohort leading the way on 91.59% school attendance! We encourage everyone in the school community to promote regular school attendance.
Learning starts at 8:40am every day. As part of our school policy, you are required to notify the school on the same day that your child is away and let the school know the reason for their absence. If we do not hear from you on the day your child is away, the school will send a text notification in the morning. It is important you keep us updated with any new home address, mobile number and email addresses. As a parent, your obligation is to reply to the text notification with your child’s name, class and reason for absence.
Mabel Park State School will:
- Send a notification in the morning if your child is recorded as absent.
- Monitor student attendance.
- Follow-up any unexplained absences.
- Use effective teaching strategies to engage your child in learning.
- Help you with strategies to encourage your child to go to school.
- Provide support for families.
For the safety of our students, all playground equipment is out of bounds before and after school. Students are to sit in their designated area before school.
Bikes and scooters are to be walked throughout school grounds.
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)
Each week, a particular focus area that aligns with our school values of TRUST, COURAGE and RESPECT is presented to all classes. Every day, students can earn Gotchas for displaying the school values.
How can you help your child with PBL?
Ask your child what the PBL focus is each week. You can positively reinforce and talk about the lessons and remind your child of the core values in which we are focusing. Each week we will post a video to the school’s Facebook page so families can review what the children have learned in PBL that week. We hope that all families take the opportunity to reinforce these elements at home.
Cross Country
The school cross country carnival will be held on Thursday 7th March. This is a really enjoyable day that gives all students from Prep to Year 6 the opportunity to participate in a fun-filled race around our school grounds.
Students must have a water bottle, hat, and wear closed in running shoes. Students are encouraged to wear their house colour shirt in support of this day. Normal school uniform will apply for those not coming to school in a house colour shirt.
School Representative Sport
Over the course of the year, students have the opportunity to participate in a range of sporting trials. This is offered to students who are born in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and are wanting to excel in their chosen sport/s and represent at a higher level for example Logan District School Sport, Metropolitan East School Sport and Queensland School Sport.
It is expected that any child wishing to undertake these trials has experience and demonstrated skills and knowledge in the chosen sport, generally having participated at club level.
All information needed to attend a trial will be handed out closer to the date by the HPE Teachers. Please note that some sports have age and gender restrictions due to safety and number of teams being selected.
Early Years News
Little Mabel Adventurers Playgroup
To give our students a strong start here at Mabel Park, we offer a Playgroup for parents and non-school age children. It’s in B Block Junior Campus every Thursday from 8:40am – 10am. Look forward to seeing you join us. Stay, play and learn with your child at Little Mabel Adventurers’ Playgroup.
Hearing Screener at School
Free hearing screeners are available on Friday 22 March. P-2 teachers have a poster with a QR code displayed for you to scan and complete the consent form. Please do this before 10 March 2024.
