Acknowledgement of Country
Our School acknowledges and pays respect to the Bullongin Peoples who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which our school is built and where learning takes place. We also acknowledge and pay respect to the Kombumerri Peoples who have connections to and stories about this land. We extend that acknowledgment to Elders past, present and future and thank them for allowing us to work together, share knowledge and stories, and walk alongside them in the education of our Jarjums.
Thursday 28th March 2024
Principal Report
We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Lennon Sensei for all her work in organising the Japanese homestay and study tour visits. These initiatives have not only provided our students with invaluable opportunities to immerse themselves in the Japanese language and culture but have also enriched the overall learning experiences within our school community. We extend our appreciation to the teachers for warmly welcoming our visiting students into their classrooms, fostering cultural exchange and understanding among our students. Thank you for your continuous support and commitment to making our school a hub of diverse learning experiences.
As we approach the Easter holiday break, I would like to extend my thanks to the parents and community members who have consistently shown support for our school events and their children's education. Your active involvement in various school activities, whether it be volunteering, attending parent-teacher meetings, or encouraging our students during performances and assemblies, it has truly made a difference in creating a vibrant and inclusive learning environment. As we head into the break, we wish you all a safe and joyous Easter holiday filled with warmth and cherished moments with your loved ones.
Partners in Learning
The Language and Literacy team provides a range of resources encompassing evidence-based research, to enable educators, families and home tutors to support children’s development of language, reading and writing. The team work in partnership with researchers and universities to develop and deliver best practice in reading and writing instruction.
The key components of reading and writing are integrated within all learning areas of the Australian Curriculum. They are delivered through teaching practices that emphasise explicit instruction, practice and feedback.
Parents and carers also play a vital part in supporting their children to read. The videos support children’s early language and reading development at home and at school.
Kind regards
Clare Ferguson
Principal
Ready, Set, Prep!
Prep enrolments are open for 2025. Enrolment packs will be available at the school office from Term 2. Children must be 5 years old by 30 June in the year they start Prep.
Enrolling at Highland Reserve State School is quite easy. Simply follow the step-by-step process to determine eligibility and enrol.
There are four steps to enrolment:
- Step 1 - Check Catchment
- Step 2 - Complete the Enrolment Package
- Step 3 - Submit the Enrolment Package
- Step 4 - Attend Enrolment Application Appointment
- Step 5 – Attend Enrolment Interview with Child
LOTE - Japanese
Recently, we have had the pleasure of hosting two school visits from Japan. Students from Ikeda High School came for a one-day tour, while students from Kyoto Seibo Gakuin Primary School have attended classes for 4 days while staying with host families. On both occasions, our school leaders, ambassadors and volunteers have taken a buddy and helped to show them what a typical day is like at an Australian school.
Our guests have also attended English lessons and have been practising what they have learnt out in the playground. Judging by the feedback, the students had a great time while our students loved having special visitors in their classrooms and learning about the cultural differences.
Both schools have commended HRSS on our hospitality and are keen to organise future visits. I also would like to say a big thank you to the HRSS community for making the students feel welcome and introducing them to the Gold Coast lifestyle.
Sayuri Lennon
LOTE Teacher
Physical Education Update
The HRSS teachers and students were creative during their Physical Education lessons this week, due to the endless rain. The oval was out of action and cross country training was put on hold for the week. Nonetheless, students thoroughly enjoyed spending their PE lessons completing a range of rotations and challenges, including throwing, catching and much more!
It was wonderful to see students work up a sweat and enjoy the movement. Well done to all of the students involved.
A reminder that the HRSS Cross Country will be held on Friday, April 19 (Term 2, Week 1). We look forward to seeing parents and caregivers. You can find more information on the school website.
Have a wonderful Easter break!
Regards,
Beau McCracken and Rob Aldridge
Health and Physical Education Teachers
Classroom News
Year 6 Travel Expo
In Weeks 8 & 9, some of our staff and students took a journey around the world as our Year 6 students lured and persuaded them through an adventurous and interactive travel expo.
Throughout the term, Year 6 students have been learning, exploring and analysing a variety of advertisements (print, radio, tv, digital), ultimately creating their own, through a multimodal text and expo presentation. Holiday destinations included Fiji, Ubud, Bora Bora, the Maldives, France, Iceland, Italy, and even some wonderful places around Australia. With so many discounts and specials offered, we will all be booking holidays!
Year 6 Team
Year 6A
This week, Years 4, 5 and 6 students were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite TOP 5 senior playground inclusions. At last week’s assembly, Mrs Butler announced all the decisions, money and time that go into building a senior playground. We are all very excited to hear that this process is continuing and that we all get to have a choice of what is included in our new playground!
It has been such a pleasure having some Japanese students come to our class to learn. They have taught us about their culture, and it has really helped us to understand them. It gives everyone such joy seeing them having fun and expressing themselves around the school. We hope that they have enjoyed their time at Highland Reserve State School, and we wish that they will visit us again.
My first day of Soccer Academy was great, although people thought I was a defender and then I showed them that I was a keeper. The next training session was good, and it included me doing a great save by diving to the bottom corner to stop the ball. Mr Aldridge has been making some tough decisions to choose our A and B teams. Unfortunately, this meant that some people missed out on getting in. I am happy with being selected to be in the Soccer Academy, but now I must wait until next term to hear if I am in the A or B team. I have enjoyed playing with the other soccer students and can’t wait to hear who is on the teams next term.
My teacher, Mrs Lively, encourages us to write more by letting us take a Fuggler home if we like. Last week I got to take a Fuggler called Felecia home with me for the weekend. It was so fun. I had to write what I did with Felecia in the Fuggler memory book. After the weekend I had to take Felecia back to school for someone else in our class to take home. This is one of your famous newsletter writers,
Mrs Karyn Lively
Year 6 Classroom Teacher
Office News
Winter Jumpers and Jackets
Our stock delivery of HRSS school jumpers has arrived! The HRSS jackets can still be worn if you have one.
The uniform shop operating hours are Monday & Friday 8:30am - 9:30am or purchases can be made through
Flexischools anytime.
Please ensure jumpers and jackets are clearly labelled. Please rename if you have purchased a second hand item. We do have a few second hand jackets that have been donated to the school. If you are facing financial hardship and are unable to purchase a school jumper, please contact Madonna Hinkins on
mhink5@eq.edu.au.
Whilst the uniform shop does not sell the items, students may wear navy blue tracksuit pants during the cooler weather. Girls may also choose to wear navy blue stockings/tights.
Reducing Cash in Schools
Reducing the amount of cash received at our school site will be a significant saving in time and resources required to receipt, count, balance and bank the daily cash takings. It eliminates the security risk of school staff managing cash and storing it on premises.
Highland Reserve SS will be making the following changes regarding cash payments:
- We will no longer be accepting cash via the finance window for the payment of invoices or uniforms.
- We will no longer be accepting cash on Mondays at the tuckshop.
How Else Can Money Be Received?
Flexischools is used for online ordering for both tuckshop and uniforms, making the process for ordering easier and more convenient.
While they do have an app, you can also use the browser to place orders.
Invoiced Activities
Bpoint is our preferred method of payment due to the valuable time saved by the automatic receipting. When you use Bpoint, you will receive an email receipt immediately.
Part payments can be made via Bpoint as well. Just enter the amount you would like to put against the invoice. You can also set up automatic payments using Bpoint via eDDR (Electronic Direct Debit). Please contact Jo-Anne on
jwebb211@eq.edu.au if you would like to utilise this option.
**Remember - you need an invoice from OneSchool to pay via Bpoint.
Accessing Bpoint
To pay an invoice via Bpoint, click on the link in the bottom left corner of your invoice and this will take you directly to the Bpoint page and automatically populates some of the details of your invoice.
Preferred
Option 1: BPoint (Credit card payments)
(All details can be found on your invoice)
Option 2: QParents (Credit Card Payments)
Pay directly from viewing your child’s account.
You must be registered with QParents
(see office for details)
Option 3: EFT
Account Name: Highland Reserve State School
BSB: 064-486
Account: 1024 3582
Reference: (Student’s full name & class)
(Please note if you are paying via Bank Transfer please allow 2 working days for payment to be received)
Option 4: In Person – Uniform / Finance Office
EFTPOS ONLY
Office Hours: 8:30am – 9:30am Monday & Friday
QParents
Highland Reserve State School is currently rolling out registrations for QParents for all year levels. For more information on what QParents offers please see link below:
As a QParents account owner, you can also utilise online consent management.
The Consent Management module supports the distribution and collection of consents from parents for school related activities. The module is compliant with Department of Education requirements, easy to manage for Teachers and school administration and convenient for parents to use.
QParents account holders will receive the consent and respond electronically. Other parents/carers will be manually emailed an excursion consent.
P&C News
We are happy to report that at the Annual General Meeting on March 12th, Jade Stopforth was reinstated as P&C President. Kanako Boothman is continuing as Vice President, a role that is now shared with new P&C committee members Sue Evans and Amee Dickinson. Jayton Joseph is continuing as our Treasurer and we have two new Secretaries, Olivia Goode and Samantha Murphy. Our next P&C meeting will be held in the school staff room at 9am on 14th May. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Last year the P&C did a phenomenal job fundraising, contributing just under $45,000 to a variety of projects for our school including the purchasing of new instruments for the music program, decodable readers for Prep and Grade 1, new marquees for the sports department, graduations bears for the Year 6 students and funding plumbing and maintenance in the Prep area. This year, our main goal is to raise money towards the purchase of a new adventure playground for the senior area, as well as funding annual supportive programs including the Hear and Say screening for Prep students, Life Education for all students, the Ditto Show and contributing to the School Chaplaincy program.
We hold a number of events throughout the school year to raise funds for our school, one of which is our upcoming Mother’s Day stall. The stall will be open all day Thursday May 9 when each class will have the opportunity to visit us during the day, as well as before school on Friday May 10. We will have a huge range of items for sale priced from $1 to $10. We will be looking for volunteers to help with setting up and running the stall so keep an eye out for an email from the P&C early next term.
And finally, we are super excited to let you know that we will be holding a school disco later in the year!
Samantha Murphy
P&C Secretary
Young Discoverers OSHC
Please find below the link to our vacation care program.
https://youngdiscoverers.org.au/childcare-upper-coomera-oshc/
C&K Highland Reserve Community Kindergarten
