and Early Learning Centre

Email: office@burdekincc.com

2-12 Melbourne St, Ayr QLD 4807

Phone (07) 4783 5552 Fax (07) 47835926

www.bccollege.net.au

Wisdom &

Discipline for

Tomorrow’s Leaders

C

A

R

E

Courtesy

Attitude

Resilience

Excellence

Newsletter 16 — Thursday 15th November 2012

Uniforms are to

be worn to

Presentation

Night please as

photos of the

presentations will

be sent to the

local paper

From the Principal’s Desk

Andrew Evetts, Principal

A big hello to all our school parents and grandparents. Wow! Where has the term gone? We are now halfway through week six with only three weeks to go. In this time teachers will be busy with final assessment pieces and writing students’ final report for the year. All report cards will be mailed out again at the end of the Semester. The final weeks of school will include the graduation ceremony for year seven students and the Presentation Nights for the ELC and BCC. Last week the Prep’s had the pleasure of visiting Reef HQ and also the water park on the Strand in Townsville. They had the privilege of checking out different marine life and also having the opportunity to touch some marine life. I know that my two boy’s came home very excited. A fun time was had by all and the children had a nice sleep on the way home. Thank you to those parents who came along and a big thank you Mrs Lovelady and Mrs Downs. With only three weeks of school left please make sure that your child/ren are wearing the correct uniform at all times. If you are unsure what the correct uniform is please contact Fiona or call into the office. The correct uniform includes no coloured shoe laces or writing on the shoes. We do not want to see our dress standards slip this late in the year. If there is a reason why your child is out of uniform please supply the teacher with a note or contact Fiona at the front desk. Your support in this would be appreciated. It has come to my attention there is a rumour circulating that East Ayr is the only school that receives funding for learning support. This is not a true statement as all schools receive funding for learning support if they have students that are entitled to support. At BCC we receive funding for students who have been ascertained and are therefore entitled to learning support. Did you know that we have the largest teacher aide to class ratio in the Burdekin. We pride ourselves on the fact that whether we receive financial support from the Government or not for your child, we will support your child as much as possible so that we can achieve the best learning outcomes. Enrolments for 2013 are going very well for the College and a big thank you to those parents who continually uplift the College and for the hard work of the staff. Your support is greatly appreciated by us all. I hope you will join us at the end of year Presentation Nights, I look forward to seeing you all there. Yours in Christ

Year 7 Parents

REMINDER

RSVP for the Year 7 Graduation

due 16th November (with payment for smorgasbord)

If you haven’t received an

invitation from your Year 7 child as yet please see Fiona in the office

or phone 4783 5552

Reminders Report Cards

We are posting report cards out again at the end of this Semester. Please ensure we have

your current postal address.

School Magazine

Please remember to have your orders and money into the school office by Monday 19th

November. Magazines are $15 per copy.

Photo permissions for school magazine

Don’t forget to return your permission slips if you would

like your child to appear in the school magazine this year.

Enrolment Forms for 2013

We hope to split another of the composite classes in 2013 but are just waiting for some par-

ents to advise if their child/ren are returning in 2013 before finalising classes. Our numbers

are still growing and some class numbers are right on the border. If you haven’t returned

your enrolment forms as yet could you please make every effort to get them in as soon as

possible.

Homereaders (6) will be sent home with each child over the Christmas break.

Awards Nights ELC Wednesday 5th December All children will receive an award and they will also be performing an item. BCC Thursday 6th December Academic, Sporting and Christian Character Awards will be presented as well as the 2013 School Captains, Sporting Captains and School Council. All students will be performing an item and must be dressed in school uniform. Last day of school is Friday 7th December at 11am. We will be holding a short dedication ceremony after the assembly on Friday morning. Lauren Kmet’s mum Leanne gifted the College and ELC with a donation that went towards the purchase of the new playground equipment and Lauren will officially open the playground in memory of her mum. Leanne was a huge supporter of both the ELC and the BCC.

Dates for your Calendar Tuesday 27th November – Year 7 Graduation (RSVP due 16th November) Tuesday 4th December- Swimming Carnival Wednesday 5th December—Ayr State High School Induction Day Thursday 6th December – College Awards Night Friday 7th December – last day of school Friday 21st December - ELC closes for 2 weeks Monday 7th January—ELC reopens Monday 21st January 2013 – College Office reopens (uniforms available) Tuesday 29th January – students start Term 1, 2013

Queensland term dates - 2013

Easter 2013 - Good Friday 29th March

Queensland term dates - 2013

Term Dates Length

Term 1 Tuesday 29 January - Thursday 28 March 9 weeks

Term 2 Monday 15 April - Friday 21 June 10 weeks

Term 3 Monday 8 July - Friday 20 September 11 weeks

Term 4 Tuesday 8 October - Friday 13 December 10 weeks

Reminders Lost Property

Please check the box in the College office—there are numerous items in there in-cluding jumpers, shoes, hats, lunchboxes etc

There is also a lost property box at the Ayr Pool. Apparently there have been a number of items left at the pool after the BCC swimming lessons.

Excursion to Reef HQ and Beyond… It was my absolute pleasure to take the Preppies on an excursion last week. Our current thematic unit is “Under the Sea”.

During this unit we have built on earlier understandings about living things, their physical characteristics, habitats, food

chains and movements. We have certainly covered a lot of content about the sea and sea life. Our Christian Living focus

has been the Creation story, and the perspective of stewardship of God’s creations. As a Reef Guardian school we learnt

about Reef Guardianship and the current threats to our coral reefs. If you ask the boys in our cohort they will tell you that

they are reef soldiers or warriors. Bless them. We have continued with specific focus given to Information Texts and their

purposes and have planned, created and presented a short oral presentation on a sea creature based on the structure of

this genre for the Speaking & Listening requirements of Literacy. In writing we have written Information Reports on sea

creatures and of course a Recount entitled, “Our Excursion”. As a culminating activity for this unit we travelled to

Townsville in the ‘big bug bus’. Thankyou Mr Evetts! We left the school with 18 very excited but still sleepy preppies on

time at 8am. We travelled to Reef HQ first where we were met by the very excellent Reef HQ staff.

We began the tour with a puppet show entitled “Lucky the Turtle”. The puppet show addressed the life of the Green Sea

Turtle and the challenges facing them as endangered sea creatures. From there we broke into 2 groups and toured the

turtle hospital and the very hands on Discovery Lagoon. I have got to say that the Rhinoceros Sea Star has to be one of the

weirdest sea creatures I have seen but totally amazing. We discovered that the Blue Spotted sting ray has 2 fins which he

uses as brakes when he wants to come to a dead stop. Fascinating!

After a quick refreshment we then toured the aquarium at our own speed. Some amazing creatures were seen and the Hammerhead sharks were a definite favourite and Reef HQ is the only Aquarium in Australia to have them.

We boarded the big bus at 11:45am to arrive at the Strand Park for a play at the water park. Children slipped, slopped,

slapped and slid on all the necessary sun protection at record speed I must say. : ) We played, climbed, ran, squirted,

climbed and slid with utter delight and enjoyment all under the watchful eyes of Mrs Downs, Mr Cowen, Mr Tustin, Mrs

Breen and myself. Some were too fast for the camera and not too keen to stop for the all-important pictures. When Preps

were all tired out and starting to shiver with lips turning blue we warmed up in the sun, got changed, had more to eat and

had an ice block treat. Thanks Mrs Breen!

Mrs Lovelady, Prep Teacher

We once again lined up to board the bus at 2pm for the journey home. The Preps will tell you who had their “sleepy eyes”

and I can confirm that the ride home was much quieter. There were some very chatty and definitely not tired little ones

that enjoyed every moment of the trip with utter glee gently poking and prodding those asleep if they really were asleep.

Cheeky monkeys!

The behaviour of our Preps was remarked on numerous times by Reef HQ staff and numerous passers-by throughout the

day. Their behaviour was exemplary in every way. Well done Preppies!!

Fancy Dress Disco

Friday

2nd November

Kindy/Pre Prep

Jayne Orchard, Director & Group Leader

ELC We have a lot of fun on our wet days— here are a few photos showing how much fun we have been having.

We love dressing up in home corner and pretend play is a valuable part of our Program. Dressing up and role playing helps a child develop in many different areas. When dressing up the children will develop fine motor control by manipulating various parts of the clothes they are putting on such as zippers and buttons. When they are role playing it helps them understand the adult world around them and also helps to develop valuable negotiating and interaction skills while deciding and building on the various roles they are engaging in. Sometimes a child can be acting out stressful situations in their lives and this can help them overcome and understand the situation better and help them move on. And you all thought they were just playing!!

Don’t forget our presentation night is on the 5th December. It is a fancy dress. Don’t forget to dress-up!

The centre will be closed from COB on the 21st of December & will reopen on the 7th January 2013.

Our last library borrowing day will be on Tuesday the 20th of November.

ELC

Toni Smallman, Group Leader, Toddlers

Toddlers

During the last few weeks we have started making our Christmas gifts. We have been having lots of fun doing these activities. We hope you like what we have made. We have been having wet days which we really enjoy as we like getting wet. We have had bubbles in the shell pools and we have been putting bubble beards on ourselves. We have welcomed some new children to our Centre. We hope you are enjoying your days with us. We enjoy making new friends with everyone.

During inside play we have been playing with the musical instruments that are on the shelf and making lots of noise. We have also been painting using shaving cream on the table which was really messy but we enjoyed it. Some of the children have been making cups of tea for Ms Smallman and Mrs Taylar, which have been delicious. They have also been feeding us strawberries.

Miss Natasha has been away recently so Mrs Taylor has been coming into our room to stay with us. We really like this. Thank you Mrs Taylor. We have been singing and doing the actions to “Incy Wincy Spider”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Open Shut Them”. The children are getting really good at these. Ask your children to sing them to you. We will be doing these songs at our Christmas Breakup which will be on Wednesday, 5th December. Please see one of us at the ELC if you haven’t received your invitation yet. Please remember to clearly name all your child’s belongings so that we can return them to you and please check your communication pocket regularly.

ELC Reminders Holiday leave forms

Are you going on holidays over the Christmas period. If so,

please provide the ELC with 2 weeks written notice before

taking holidays. If the correct notice is provided you will only

be charged for the minimum daily rate of 4 hours per day

instead of your usual booked hours. The ELC and the College

office has leave forms available for you to complete.

Is your child leaving the ELC at the end of 2012?

Please provide the ELC or the College office with your child’s

finish date 2 weeks prior to your child’s final day at the ELC.

This will ensure you are not billed for any additional days.

Vacation Care

The ELC also has limited places available for vacation care

over the Christmas holiday period. Please contact Jayne at

the ELC for more information and available times and days.

Awards Night

Wednesday 5th December from 7pm in the College Hall.

Parents could you please bring a plate for supper and children

are welcome to dress in fancy dress costume.

The Year 7’s are getting ready to say goodbye to their primary school years and their

parents have been looking out some old photos. This is Tobias Moore and Caleb O’Shea as

little toddlers sitting at the desks at the College and here they are again in 2012!

Meet the Team Andrew Evetts—Principal

Jocelyn Lovelady—Prep Teacher Heather Mackay—Year 3/4 Teacher

Fleur Vigerzi—Year 1 Teacher Natalie Porchun—Year 2 Teacher Chris Knight —Year 6/7 Teacher

Judy Kedar—Year 5 & Year 1 Teacher Sandra Fowler—Year 5 Teacher Ray Caine— IT & H&PE Teacher

Wally Ford—Music Teacher Donna Higginson—Teacher/Librarian

Kim Smith—Teachers Aide & Library Assistant Leeza Goon-Chew—Teachers Aide Sandra Saunders—Teachers Aide

Ronda Downs—Prep Teachers Aide Audrey Heppell—Teachers Aide

Joanna Ford—Learning Support Teachers Aide Paul Haller—Year 3/4 Teachers Aide

Jayne Orchard—Director and Team Leader—ELC Toni Smallman—Team Leader—ELC

Gessie Wilson—ELC Natasha Patterson—ELC

Raywin Mayor—ELC Jill Sutcliffe—ELC

Cheryl Taylor—ELC Rob Harper—Groundskeeper

Bronson Hutchen—Groundskeeper Jackie Gudge—Cleaner

Zilya Bunakova—Cleaner

Rose Giardina—Financials (Church and School) Fiona Christie—Reception/Principals Assistant