Principal's Patch
Dear Parents
Last Friday we held the 2017 Leadership Badge Ceremony. We were thrilled to have support from many special guests including both of our local high school principals, Mr Stephen Loggie (PBC) and Mr Cameron Hodges (Elanora SHS), Mrs Nikki Robinson (our P&C president), Mrs Daphne McDonald (Division 13 Councillor), a rep for Mr Michael Hart (State member for Burleigh) and our inspiring guest speaker Olympic cycling gold medallist, Sara Carrigan OAM. It was a special morning for the entire school to witness our 2017 student leaders receive their badges. Congratulations to all of these students.
Drop Off & Pick Up
Thank you to everyone for following road safety rules and committing to keeping all of our PBSS students safe at these busy times of the day. Recently the traffic at the front gate has been quite heavy and I urge everyone to please be patient and courteous to other drivers. Alternative meeting places for you and your child are at the back gate near the C&K Kindy or near the cricket nets on Lind Street.
Please be aware that the local police and the council parking officers will continue to do checks around the school to enforce road safety.
Mathletics & Literacy Apps
The last payment of $25 for your child to access Mathletics and Spellodrome (Reading Eggs in Prep) is tomorrow, Tuesday 28th February. Non paying students will unfortunately have their current access removed by the end of this week. These programs are used for both homework and classroom tasks. To this date there are only 254 students who have paid and this does not cover what the school has already paid out, or planned for with other apps such as Raz Kids.
We were hoping that the response would be much higher than this and ongoing support of these programs may have to be re-evaluated in future years.
Random Reward Days
Last week on assembly we rewarded all Year 4 and Year 5 students with 100% attendance so far this year with a certificate. We also did the same for any student who participated in the Waste Free Wednesday challenge.
Throughout the year we will continue to select random rewards for attendance goals, classes/students in 100% correct uniform, and other guidelines that support PBSS policies.
The smiles on faces with these surprise rewards are golden!
Principal's Conference
This Thursday and Friday I will be attending the Queensland State School Principal's Conference at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. This is held every second year and focuses on the vision and future direction of DET and best practice in education.
Term 2 Interschool Sport
Year 4 - Year 6 Interschool sport is a feature of the curriculum that PBSS values. In recent years the cost of this has been restrictive for some families. As with everything we do at PBSS we aim to ensure that all educational experiences are as affordable and inclusive as possible, and therefore Term 2 interschool sport will be offered slightly differently in 2017 to ensure maximum participation for all interested students.
The idea we are currently planning for is that all students pay a fee of $40, which is significantly lower than previous years. This includes all students who choose to participate in our school offered Learn to Surf program, and those selected to represent the school in netball, soccer and rugby league.
We are able to offer this through the use of parent transport for soccer and rugby league. This should also alleviate the issues with buses running late each week as the bus will not need to go to three different venues across the coast on very busy Friday afternoons.
Surf Option Clarification
At this stage we are investigating the option for two surf programs. The school offered Learn to Surf program will definitely go ahead at the $40 cost. This will involve the basic fundamentals of surfing and is not for experienced surfers as it will be held in thigh deep water.
For more advanced surfers we are currently receiving prices from externally run surf schools. It is envisaged that the cost of this program will be significantly more than the $40 for the school programs. We will provide parents with more details about this as soon as possible.
PBSS Facilities Parent Survey
This week all families will receive a survey asking for parent input into the continued improvement of facilities at PBSS both in and out of the classroom. Please take the time to complete this as it is important that we have as much input as possible to ascertain the preferences of the school parent community. Future fundraising by the P&C and the school facilities budget will be influenced by these suggestions. Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey.
Baby Addison Upton
Congratulations to our Year 2/3 TLC Tyson Upton and his wife Susie on the safe arrival of their first child, Addison.
Kind regards
Sandra Thompson
Principal