Issue 10
29 July 2010
Contact our school
Santa Isobel Bvd Pacific Pines QLD 4211
PO Box 534
Helensvale QLD 4212
Ph: (07) 5502 5333
Fax: (07) 5502 5300
Email: admin
@pacificpinesss.eq.edu.au
Web: www.pacificpinesss.eq.edu.au
Our Sponsors
Please click on the advertisments to view more details
 Sports’ Days
On behalf of the school, I would like to congratulate Mr Turpin and Mr Newman for their excellent
organisation of all three Sports’ Days during the past two weeks. This culminated in our first visit to the
Griffith University Track where many of our students shone in their athletic abilities. Our students were a
credit to their school and my staff worked throughout the day without a break to provide opportunities for our
Year 4 to 7 students in many sporting areas. I would like to thank our students who all showed fantastic self
management, the parents who attended and gave support and to Mrs Hadwen who assisted in organising
the day. It was a huge success. The 800 metre races will occur after the Year 7 students return from
Canberra. Parents will be notified before this occurs.
Congratulations
The arrival of babies for staff continues to occur. Congratulations to Mrs Bebendorf and her husband Leon
for the safe arrival of Austin, to Mrs Shingles and her husband Clint for the safe arrival of Duke and to Mr
Woodyatt and his wife Sarah for the safe arrival of Emily Paige. All mothers and babies are doing well.
Staffing
Welcome to Pacific Pines to Mrs Collie who is our new Deputy Principal looking after Years 6 and 7 and to
Mr Daniel Withington who has taken Mr Bartley’s place on 4B. Mr Walker will continue to teach 4M until Mrs
McGeown returns from sick leave. She is doing very well and keeps in contact with us regarding her
progress. Mr Woodyatt will continue to teach 6P and Miss Hulands will continue teaching 5H for the rest of
this term.
Canberra
The time has finally arrived for our excited Year 7 students who will be travelling to Canberra this Sunday
and who will be returning next Thursday. This will be the first time that our students and staff will be travelling
by air. A great deal of time and preparation has gone into organising this trip and I thank Mrs Hadwen for the
many hours that she has invested in preparing all of the behind the scenes tasks and to Mrs Gooley for doing
all of the initial preparation. I know that our Year 7’s will have a fantastic time and will bring back many
memories.
School Opinion Surveys
It’s also that time of the year when a digitally selected number of students, parents and all staff are asked to
complete a School Opinion Survey which will then indicate how they believe the school is responding to
many educational issues. We consistently have achieved highly in all areas during the past 8 years and I
thank all of those people who did complete a survey. It gives the school an area of direction for the following
phase. You can view the last Annual School Report which includes results for these surveys on our web site
at www.pacificpinesss.eq.edu.au and then go to Annual School Report 2009. Our web site also has our
Code of Responsible Behaviour posted on it for community reference.
Student Free Day
The next Student Free Day will be Wednesday August 11th which is gazetted as the Brisbane Show Holiday.
I have organised for all of my teaching staff to attend a day which will focus on Inquiry Based Learning and
which we will then relate to our teaching practices with a special focus on Science.
Curriculum News
This year my staff are focussing on the teaching of Reading including Inferential Comprehension,
Summarising, Questioning and Higher Order Thinking Skills; Spelling and explicit teaching strategies,
grammar through online workshops in their own time, data collection, analysis and response, a Science
Strategy to position my staff for the National Curriculum, Technology through the Techno Literate Teacher
Initiative, early oral language screening, and the refinement of the learning Support Model. They also
continue to focus on the how of teaching, sharing successful teaching strategies that engage students in
learning.
Boys Reading With Boys
This year the school has also started an initiative that involves Year 9 boys from the high school coming
across and working with Year 3 boys on reading strategies. This is enhancing the Reading Pilot Program
which commenced last year and which involves Year 6 and 7 students working with Year 1 and 2 students
on reading strategies during their second break times once or twice per week. Thank you to Mrs Davidson
 who has delivered all of the training for students doing these programs. There is amazing learning happening
all around our wonderful school all the time.
Regards
Kathy Edwards
Principal
Welcome back to Brad Stewart who has returned to us this term from his secondment at Central Office.
Congratulations to Sarah Larmor on the birth of her 3rd baby - Ava - what a beautiful little girl. Also to
Shannon Bebendorf on the birth of her first baby Austin, a bouncing boy. We all wish the very best of
happiness and health to your families.
This term our Senior, Boys and Advanced Choirs, Junior Band, and Senior Strings groups are performing in
the Gold Coast Eisteddfod.
If your child is performing during school time, buses will transport the students to and from the venue
(exception is the Advanced Choir on Friday afternoon which will be by private transport). You are more than
welcome to meet us there and watch the performances. For the sessions that are outside school time
please ensure your child arrives at the time stipulated in their note for their performance.
The session times are as follows:
Senior Choir
Tuesday 10th Aug
6:30pm
Boys Choir
Thursday 12th Aug
6:00pm
Advanced Choir
Friday 13th Aug
1:30pm
Junior Band
Tuesday 17th Aug
6:00pm
Senior Strings
Monday 23 Aug
9:00am
Important! Band and Strings will need long black pants for their performances. They will wear their red
performance shirts with these, black shoes and black socks. Choir will wear their blue performance shirts
with their school navy shorts, white socks and black shoes.
Entry into the Eisteddfod is $6 adults and $3 children per session, tickets at the door I believe. Performers
are free.
Thank you for your support of our performers. We have all worked very hard this year and will enjoy
performing in our sections.
Rosemary Warhurst
Music Coordinator
Grounds and Facilities
This is a full time permanent position. Application packages are available from the school’s website or the
office. Applicants will be assessed on the four key points in the position description. Applications close
Friday 13 August 2010.
We urge parents to pay directly into the school’s account to minimise waiting time at the window. Our
banking details are:
BSB:
06 4474
Account No:
10097379
Account Name: Pacific Pines State School General A/c
Payments are made by transferring from your account into the above account. B Pay is not an option at this
stage.
Don’t forget we must have your child’s name/class and the excursion code to be able to track the payment.
A deposit of $37 was made on 14/7/10 for the Eureka excursion – we have been unable to track this.
 Eileen Dixon
Business Services Manager
The following Religious Education books are available for sale from the office:
Years 2 & 3
Infant Connect
$3.00
Year 4-5
Primary Connect
$3.00
Years 6-7
Upper Primary Connect $3.00
A reminder that payment days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday only, between 8:15am and 10:00am.
Parents are advised that Education Queensland does not have Personal Accident Insurance cover for
students. Physical Education, particularly contact sports, carries inherent risks of injury. It is a personal
decision for parents as to the type and level of private insurance they arrange to cover students for any
accidental injury that may occur.
Any adult with children beyond the nappy stage is undoubtedly concerned about the influence and
temptations of the rapidly developing technological world. Once, we tried to keep our children safe on the
street and in our homes; now they can be reached—silently, secretly—through mobile phone and computer,
by text, by email, by a quick encounter in a chat room, a photo on a phone. And not everyone in cyber space
is there for friendship’s sake. The headlines are full of stories of young people who followed their natural
curiosity and trust too far. In addition, this is a world that belongs to any young person who is savvy about
the computer and other devices—usually in a way that an adult would be unaware of—and easily
outmanoeuvred.
As with any issue, building the kind of respect and trust between adult and child that leads to good
communication begins long before the issues do—but even with this basis, children who reach the age of ten
or eleven and beyond are anxious to have their own freedoms, their own worlds, their own secrets even in
the best of times. And with the cyber-scene changing with every season, and new adaptations and fads
driving it, it takes an effort to stay clued up about cyberspace. In fact, the extreme incidents are rare; what’s
common, and what this mostly—unsupervised space lends itself to very easily, is bullying. Children come to
Kidscape who have been driven to suicide attempts by mass attacks delivered round the clock by text and
email. Once, home was at least a place safe from peers’ bullying; now there is no protection for cyber-
stealth. And making sure your child does not participate with the bullies-too tempting when all is secret, and
a push of a button sends hate through the air—is important.
Keep these ideas in mind from the very beginning, when the computer and mobile are delivered. Discussion
about use should begin even before that time. Set up computers out in the open. The chance of observation
may keep some users on track.
Work together to set up some guidelines, and talk about dangers. We have included some good-use-guides
for different age groups. They can be printed off and kept near the computer. Be sure to keep them current.
Establish a family email account that all can use for sign-ins; for instance, at gaming websites. Consider
using a filtering device.
Emphasize that privacy is vital. Names, addresses, pin numbers, but also photographs and other clues are
not for the internet. Discuss the dangers—there are no secrets in cyberspace. Use privacy settings on
social networking sites. And remind them that everything is traceable.
Teach your young people to trust instincts that suggest there is danger. If children want to test a website or
visit a chat room, see what happens when they suggest they are discussing things with their parents.
Don’t delete search and chat histories, in case there are problems—printing off messages is good evidence.
Know how to file a complaint with the ISP or a mobile phone company, an IM account or a video-site. If you
feel a threat is dangerous—as in bullying messages—and would ordinarily contact the police or the school,
follow through. However, young people are traditionally very reluctant to admit to being bullied. This is even
more the case when they fear having their access to mobile or internet removed. Know the typical
behaviours that may signal a child is being bullied. Bullies may also exhibit unusual behaviour.
 Threatening or abusive messages or pictures, sent to a classmate or anyone else, may incur a fine or even
imprisonment. Talk to the police.
Remind them that they should be respectful in what they send on the internet—words sound different when
written, not spoken—or when published for everyone to see. If they are receiving bullying messages, DO
NOT RESPOND. Bullies get their enjoyment from seeing a target’s distress. But do talk to an adult!
Finally, try to stay current! Browse the internet; try some games and chat rooms. Slang, fads, games can all
change constantly.
This information has been supplied by Say No to Bullying. More information can be obtained from their site:
Can you spare some time to help cover general library books? Books can be taken home to cover if more
convenient. Please phone or see the Library staff. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
P.S Thanks to Allison Furness and Rietha De Beer for your help with the Prep readers.
Dorothy Litherland
Library
We are excited to advise parents of Pacific Pines Primary School that the winner of the Queensland Shared
Car Raffle was one of our very own parents. Congratulations on winning a brand new Holden Omega valued
at $38,500. Well done and thank you to everyone who supported the raffle.
Kristi Walsh
P & C President
DATES TO REMEMBER
Date
Event
10 August
Gold Coast Eisteddfod – Senior Choir 6:30pm
11 August
Student Free Day
12 August
Gold Coast Eisteddfod – Boys Choir 6:00pm
13 August
Gold Coast Eisteddfod – Advanced Choir 1:30pm
17 August
Gold Coast Eisteddfod – Junior Band 6:00pm
23 August
Gold Coast Eisteddfod- Senior Strings 9:00am
27 August
Gold Coast Show Holiday (Local Public Holiday)
1 September
Disco (times to be advised)
EXCURSIONS/ACTIVITIES
Year
Level
Date/s
Excursion/Activity
Cost
Payment
Due by
Year 4
12 August
St Helena Excursion
$35
6/8/10
6A & 6C
16 August
Kids on the Block
$20
5/8/10
6N & 6P
19 August
Kids on the Block
$20
5/8/10
Year 2
19 August
Thunderbird Park Excursion
$26
9/8/10
6F & 6H
20 August
Kids on the Block
$20
5/8/10
Chess Club Fees Term 3 – $30 due by 3rd lesson in Week 4
 ASSEMBLY TIMES
Year Level
Day
Time
Prep/Yr 1
Wednesday
9am
2/3
Thursday
9am
4/5
Friday
9am
6/7
Monday
9am
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