School Link - 10 May 2023

Principal's Report

The Principal - Dr Shaun Kanowski

Last week I was absent from school from Wednesday onwards, as I was taking part in a School Review at Kilkivan P-10 State School, near Gympie. Kilkivan is a similar school to ours, offering education from prep-age to year 10 students. It was a positive experience, with many excellent practices in place, some of which I look forward to sharing with our school community.

Our Interhouse Track and Field Carnival is scheduled for Week Nine of this term (Thursday 15 and Friday 16 June). Please mark these dates in your calendars. Students and staff have been preparing for the carnival through Health and Physical Education lessons, Friday Futures and lunch time coaching sessions. Many students are taking these opportunities to prepare for the athletics season and I sincerely thank staff for their efforts.

How wonderful to see Ms Taylor McKeown, Commonwealth gold medalist and Olympic silver medalist for swimming (breaststroke and medley relay) in our school this week to speak with our upper primary students about her sporting journey. Taylor has certainly inspired students to work hard to achieve their sporting goals.

On Friday 12 May, our school welcomes students from across the region, to participate in a Chess Tournament. This will be hosted in our Performing Arts Hall for the majority of the school day. My very best wishes to the Allora chess players on home soil. Thank you to Mr Brad Johnson for coordinating this event.

Our Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) will meet on Thursday 18 May for their General Meeting. Our April meeting was well attended, with some great ideas such as investigating electronic forms of payment, so that people don’t need to bring along cash to fundraisers, as well as order and pay for various P&C items for sale online. I encourage as many parents / carers to attend our May P&C meeting, to ensure that you have a say  in these and other important matters.

As many of you may be aware, I have been contemplating retirement from the principalship in recent times. I originally intended to see the year out, however family, health and other job opportunities, have emerged forcing my hand. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement as principal of our wonderful school, effective from the end of this term. I have certainly valued leading this school community and will sincerely miss connecting with our school families. Meaghan Rogers (Acting Lead Principal) is aware of this decision and is actively working with our region to recruit a suitable replacement. As soon as I am notified, I will share this information in a timely manner.

Every Day Counts

“Every Day Counts” for every student. Under Queensland law, you must make sure your child of school age is enrolled and attends school all day, every school day unless they have a reasonable excuse. Illness, doing work experience, competing in a school sporting event or going on a school excursion are reasonable excuses for being absent from school. Avoid keeping your child away from school for birthdays, shopping, visiting family and friends, if they sleep in, looking after other children, minor check ups or care such as haircuts. Routine medical or other health appointments should be made either before or after school or during the school holidays.

You are reminded that it is a legal requirement to have all student absences explained (an explanation – not a message that “they are away today”).

Please use one of the following methods, recording the student’s name and reason for absence:

• SMS anytime to 0429 316 194 (preferred);
• reply to the SMS sent out each morning a student is absent;
• call student absence line 4666 7266; or
• phone the school office.

Class Dojo or emails are NOT to be used to advise of student absences. All unexplained absences are followed up with a formal letter which must be completed, signed and returned to the school. We would appreciate your help in having all student absences explained. Percentage of class attendance below:

Calendar of Events

Year 7 in 2024 Transition Day

If you are interested in enrolling at Allora P -10 SS in 2024 in Year 7, please come along on:

• Thursday 22 June from 9am – 3pm
  (followed by a Parent Information afternoon from 3pm – 4pm)

Students will participate in transition activities to give them a snapshot of what you can expect at our school as a Year 7 student.

Enquiries to Linda Sharman-Bowman  lshar3@eq.edu.au  Phone 07 4666 7222

Tuckshop Roster

HELP!! As you can see from the roster below, we are very, very short on volunteers. Please consider volunteering some time to help out at the tuckshop.

We thank those who already volunteer their time at Tuckshop. Without support from our wonderful volunteers, we would struggle to run. If there are any problems, or you are unable to volunteer on your rostered day, please let Serena know with an SMS or phone call before school. Thank you.

Student of the Week

The following students are awarded certificates for demonstrating our school motto, "Always our Best". Congratulations students!

Under 8's Day

To celebrate Under 8's Day and Early Childhood, Prep to Year 2 students will travel to Clifton State School on Friday 9 June, to take part in a variety of rotational activities. Students will leave Allora at approximately 9am and return to school by approximately 2:30pm. Cost for the bus is $5.00 per student, with all students expected to attend and travel on the bus. Payment for the bus is due on Tuesday 6 June. For lunch, there is the option to purchase a Meal Deal for $8.00. Payment for the Meal Deal is due on Monday 29 May. Money can be paid separately or together. If paying together - due by Monday 29 May.

Students are required to bring:

• Hat
• Water Bottle
• Morning tea
• Lunch (if not purchasing the Meal Deal)
• Weather appropriate clothing and footwear (no thongs)

The theme for the day is "Dress for Messy Play" and it is a free dress day.

Sports Report

Darling Downs Netball Trials:

Congratulations to Lailah and Ava who recently competed in the Darling Downs Netball Trials. It was a miserable and wet day but the girls gave it their best and learnt from the experience. Unfortunately they were not selected for the next level.

Darling Downs Rugby League Trials:

Jackson travelled to Goondiwindi to take part in the Darling Downs Rugby League trials. It was a great experience for Jackson and he is to be congratulated on his hard work.

Darling Downs Soccer Trials:

Best wishes are extended to Lochlan and Graysen who are competing this week in the Darling Downs Soccer trials at Stanthorpe.

Central Downs Gala Days:

Our Central Downs Gala days for Netball, Rugby League and Soccer will be held here on campus on Friday 26 May and a fortnight later on 9 June.  Students will be given the opportunity to choose their sport of interest and then take part in these two days with peers from the Clifton Cluster schools.

Darling Downs Cross Country:

Recently Southern Downs and Border District Cross Country trials were held at Scots PGC. Allora sent a number of students to this event. Congratulations to Milo and Allira who placed 5^th in their respective events. They will now compete at the Darling Downs Cross Country event next week. We wish them every success in their running event.

Broncos Competition:

The Broncos Competition for secondary students will be next Thursday 18 May, in Goondiwindi. Teams have been chosen to attend this event in Netball and Rugby League. We ask that paperwork and payment are returned promptly.  Training sessions will also be available throughout lunch breaks during the week.

Athletics Training:

Our Athletics season is off to a great start with a large number of students taking part in lunch time training sessions. Our Friday Futures rotations are also proving to be a great opportunity for students to learn the correct skills needed for the various events from our qualified staff. Keep up the great work students.

Our Interhouse Athletics Carnival will be held this term, on Thursday 15 June and Friday 16 June. The 3000m and 1500m events will be held during Friday Futures in the weeks leading up to the carnival.

Olympics Unleashed

Students were very fortunate to have a visit from Taylor McKeown yesterday. Taylor visited as part of the Olympics Unleashed program. She shared her story with students about the highs and lows of competitive swimming and the excitement of making an Olympic Team. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to sit, listen and reflect on what is involved in becoming a full-time athlete.

A Note from the Library

It is so wonderful to see so many students borrowing from our library. Some have even been receiving their first “pick in the box”.  Congratulations to those students.

On another note, Book Fair is coming!  Book Fair will be in our school library and will be open before school, at second break and after school until 4pm. Book Fair starts on Thursday 18 May and runs until Tuesday 23 May. EFTPOS is available to purchase books.  Any purchase helps our school library to receive new books.  See you at the Fair!

The Scholastic “Read More in May” Challenge is now open! Families make the best reading role models, so we encourage everyone to get involved and encourage their child to read for at least 10 minutes every day in May. Follow the link to download the fun Koala Reading Log to record your child’s reading progress, and to enter the draw to win amazing prizes:
www.scholastic.com.au/nfrm

Have a great week!

LEA-ANN WEIER

Footy Tipping Comp - Round 12

It has been brought to my attention that there is a typing error in Round 12 of the Footy Tipping Competition (18-21 May). The second BRONCOS should actually be DOLPHINS vs STORM. Please adjust your tips accordingly. 

P&C News

Greetings to all

A very big "thank you" to all who attended April's meeting. With your support, a greater variety of ideas and opinions were bantered about. This makes for a very healthy discussion which leads to a better P&C.

Staffing changes are as follows: Miss Heritage is Acting Head of Department (Primary) and we all welcome Mr Williams and Mrs Veal, along with Prac. student Mr Ruhle.

It will be a very busy term for the sports teachers, with quite a few events happening in this arena, so please keep an eye on the School Link for dates and times.

An event to pencil in on your calendars is 13 October, which will be an Arts Extravaganza! Still Art pieces made by students will be on display, the Instrumental Music and Rock Bands will perform, Mrs Lesley Telford will have her students performing, along with a 2-act play from the Yr 9/10 Drama students, as well as many other exciting things. The evening show will be a pre-paid event, with a limited number of patrons. Watch this space for more details!

The Student Leaders are liaising with Mr Moore to set up a Student Representative Council. It is intended that the SRC will give all students a voice in the activities of the school, in a more formal manner. This form of governance is an excellent training opportunity for our Leaders of Tomorrow.

Our next meeting is on 18 May at 7:00pm in the school library. Hope to see you then.

Judy Emms
P&C Secretary

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