From the Principal

Hello Gympie East parents, carers and community,

We have officially hit the halfway mark for Term 4!  

Our PBL focus for this week was to 'only eat your own food'. It is important to regularly reinforce that students are not to share food. There could be issues with allergies that students are not aware, but also families pack food for their child and it is important that they are eating their own food and not having it eaten by someone else. Our PBL focus for next week will be 'help solve problems'. This is the pointy end of a reporting semester where we want to students to work hard, be diligent in getting assessment completed to the best of their ability. One of the common things we see is students feeling anxious. Learning how to solve problems such as these, taking a moment, having some deep breaths and thinking clearly about what is the best thing to do can often go a long way to solving problems they find in the classroom or in the playground. 

Remembrance Day is next Tuesday 11th November. We will hold this in the undercover area in front of our Anzac Memorial stone. This will be run by students and will begin at 10:50am in preparation for a 1 minute silence at 11am. Parents are welcome to attend. 

This week we celebrated two very important days, World Teachers Day and Tuckshop Appreciation Day. World Teacher's Day is a great time to let teachers know how important they are and thank them for their hard work through the year. We are privileged to have a fantastic group of dedicated teachers who put students first and work tirelessly to give them the best opportunities to be successful. On Friday we also celebrated Tuckshop Appreciation Day. Amy Polzin is a fantastic Tuckshop coordinator who gives up many hours ordering, shopping, preparing and serving food and we are so thankful to her. This is not a paid position and her selflessness to the role is extraordinary. I'd also like to thank everyone who has volunteered this year to help in the tuckshop. 

Volunteers Afternoon Tea will be held on Thursday 27th November at 2:30pm in the Library. Invitations were printed and sent home late this week. I have also emailed one home to ensure they are received. We could not survive without volunteers and it's nice to take the time to thank you for your contribution. 

Our Swimming Carnival is confirmed for Wednesday 10th December (Week 10) at Gympie State High School. This will be a great day as always, and will be a terrific way to finish our school year. Students will need to register in competitive or non-competitive races, only competitive races will go towards age champion. The non-competitive races can use a noodle or a kickboard during their races. They will choose during PE lessons with Mrs Yas Stephens. 

Our Tuckshop is still struggling for volunteers. Please consider if there are any Wednesdays when you can give up some time to help. If not, we may need to put a message out Monday morning to cancel Tuckshop for that week if there are not enough volunteers. 

Thanks

Mr Matt Elson