Brookfield Banter 03/04/2025

From the Principal - Leanne Duncan

Term 1 Reflection

As another busy and exciting term draws to a close, we take this opportunity to reflect on the wonderful achievements and memorable moments that have brought our school community together.

Learning and Growth
Our students have shown tremendous dedication and enthusiasm across all areas of their learning this term. A special mention goes to our Year 6 students, who have stepped up as leaders and role models and also our Preppies who have finished their first term of formal schooling full of curiosity and new learning!  

Exciting Events and Celebrations
This term has been filled with exciting events that have brought joy and learning in and beyond the classroom. Our student leaders kicked off the year with Welcome Week messages and the year 6 Graduation finished off Welcome Week with a very well attended Burger Bar. Life Education learnings, Leaders Week, Inducting our student leaders for 2025, Mrs Noonan's retirement, a tropical cyclone, Naplan for our year 3 and 5's and a Sundae Fundae, district trials for cross country despite the rain to name a few!  Our recent Book Fair was also a success - Thank you to Mrs Allison, the Library captains and families for supporting this event.  We also celebrated Harmony Day, reinforcing the importance of inclusivity and respect in our school community. The "Kindness" song was sung on our Whole School Assembly by our Year 1 to 3's yesterday and was just so joyful!  

A heartfelt thank you goes to our dedicated staff, parent volunteers, and P&C members, whose tireless efforts have supported many of the wonderful programs and events this term. Your involvement makes a real difference in enhancing the experiences of our students and fostering a strong sense of belonging.

Looking Ahead
As we approach the holidays, we encourage families to take time to rest, recharge, and enjoy quality time together. We are already looking forward to another exciting term ahead, more learning opportunities, and community engagement on the horizon. The Community Calendar is below. There are a few dates to note including School Photos!

In the first week of Term 2, from the 22 April to the 24 April, I am on long service leave. Mrs Lewis is Acting Principal in my absence and Mrs McKay will be Acting Deputy Principal. 

Important Dates for Next Term!

• Term 2 Commences: Tuesday 22 April

• Senior Assembly - Wednesday 23 April

• Brookfield State School ANZAC Ceremony in our HALL 9am - Thursday 24 April
• RSL Anzac March and Morning Service to come along and represent our school on Friday 25 April (march assembles at 8.30am for the commencement of the service at 9am) Details below.

Brookfield State School Snake Information and First Aid

As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff, and families, we are currently reviewing our Snake Safety Information and awareness raising in preparation for the warmer months. With increased snake activity during spring and summer and after the recent rain, it is essential that we remain vigilant and well-prepared to respond effectively to any potential encounters on school grounds.

Snake Policy and First Aid

To reinforce these safety measures, Students and staff will have some time with our local snake catcher a snake Safety awareness session in Term 2 on assembly (dates below), providing practical information on staying safe and responding appropriately. 

Junior Assembly - 7 May 2025
Senior Assembly - 14 May 2025

Community Calendar - Term 2

From the Deputy Principal - Leah Cathcart

PBL: Positive Behaviour for Learning

Our Rules

Follow directions straight away

Keep hands and feet to ourselves

Listen and speak in a friendly way

Be in the right place

Care for others, objects and the environment

Our Values

Respectful, Responsible, Safe

Our Mission

Belong, Strive, Succeed

At Brookfield State School we are RESPECTFUL. Thank you to 1A for sharing their ideas about how we demonstrate respect at our school.

Ready-Set-Prep 2026

Our waiting list is open for students who will attend Prep in 2026! If your child was born:

1st July 2020- 30 June 2021 they are eligible to attend Prep in 2026

Enrolment forms are available for collection from:

• our administration office or digitally from our school website https://brookfieldss.eq.edu.au/
• to register for an enrolment tour. We are currently taking bookings for tours every 2nd Tuesday. Please call our office on 3374 7333 or email admin@brookfieldss.eq.edu.au to make a booking.

From the Deputy Principal - Katie Lewis

Cross Country Update

Congratulations to those students who braved the wet, muddy conditions this morning and ran in our modified Cross Country - by the smiles on their faces, the kids actually LOVED this experience! 

Huge shout out to Mr Bidner and Mrs Lizel Moore for their efforts in setting up and co-ordinating today's event! Thank you also to our parents who stood in the rain and helped marshal students on the course.

Mr Bidner will be in touch in coming weeks with those students who will represent our school at the Northern Eagles Cross Country event. If your child wants to train on the holidays, please reach out to Mrs Lizel Moore for information.

Our Cross Country Carnival - for Prep to Year 6 - will be held on Wednesday 14 May.  We will be reminding students to wear their house shirts for this day and will be encouraging families to donate the all important cupcakes and poppers.  Students will run in their year level groups and ribbons and age champions will be awarded as part of this event. Stay tuned for further information early next term.

Cross Country

Happy Holidays

Thank you for another great term at Brookfield. We rose to many challenges and continued to show how we are adaptable, resilient and flexible amidst changes due mainly to weather. I am on leave for the remaining two days of term, with Mrs Lisa McKay stepping into my role to see out the term.

As I always say, be sure to take some time (if you can) this holidays, to reflect on how much your children have grown over this term, one step further along their education journey. Check in with them on their highlights, their lowlights and what they are looking forward to in Term 2. I am sure there will be many tired students (and parents) come Friday, may the holidays provide the time to rest and recharge, ready to go in Term 2 on Tuesday 22 April.

From the Head of Curriculum - Lisa McKay

Decodable texts and how can we use them at home?

At Brookfield we teach children to read using systematic synthetic phonics and they are taught letter-sound correspondences in a particular order. They learn each sound one at a time and then practice these sounds through reading and phonic activities.

Decodable texts are designed for beginner readers and are written to match their growing knowledge of letter-sound relationships. These texts allow children to practice their reading skills in a way that makes sense, without the need to guess words.

Your child might bring home decodable texts to practice their word-reading skills. If your child finds a word challenging, you can help by demonstrating how to pronounce each sound in the word and blending them together to read it. For example, with the word "cat," you would point to each letter and say the sound it represents: /c/ /a/ /t/, then blend the sounds together to read "cat."

Decodable texts may also include some high frequency ‘Irregular Words’ that your child is learning in class. High frequency words are common in English (like: said, the, of, is) and are included to help form meaningful sentences. Some of these words might contain letter-sound relationships that your child has not yet learned. If your child encounters an unknown 'irregular word' when reading a decodable text, you can simply tell them the word.

How can I help?

As your child reads, you may observe that some words are recognised instantly, while others require them to sound out the letters. When your child encounters a word they do not immediately recognise, you can support them by saying:
"Say each sound as you point to the letters. Now blend the sounds together and read the word."
For instance, with the word bat, guide them to say the individual sounds /b/ /a/ /t/, and then blend them to read bat.

• If your child continues to find the word challenging, it is perfectly fine to tell them what the word is. Keep in mind that they are still developing their understanding of letters and sounds and may need additional practise and support.
• As your child learns new letter-sound relationships, their reading might be slow and appear effortful. This is entirely normal for early readers and not a cause for concern.
• Consistent practise is essential in developing reading skills. Encourage your child to read their decodable texts regularly, including reading aloud to other family members. 
• Re-reading the same text improves confidence, fluency and comprehension. 

Here are some photos of 1A using decodable readers during their paired reading time in class. 

Helping Hands News

ANZAC Day 2025

Brookfield State School ANZAC Ceremony

We invite our community to join us in our school hall on April 25 from 9:00am for our ANZAC Day Ceremony. Students, staff, and families will gather to reflect on the ANZAC spirit—one of bravery, mateship, and resilience.

Lest we forget.

Anzac Day Morning Service - 25 April 2025

Below are the ANZAC Day ceremony details for 2025, including a map of where the march starts and ends.

From the Social Worker - Mrs D

Being our Children’s loudest “cheerleader  “no matter what

The stories that we tell about our children matter. Think about the way we describe them because those words are powerful.

If we describe them as difficult, defiant or too much they start to see themselves that way too.

But if we believe in their kindness, resilience and their ability to learn new and grow, that becomes their truth.

Our belief as parents shapes the way our children see themselves. So let’s choose a story that lifts them up.

Every little thing we say and do matters- more than we will ever know.

As Justin Coulson encourages in his most recent Podcast, the last 3 words are so important – I love you, no matter what.

Music News

On Thursday April 24 (yes – the third day back of Term 2!) our school is holding its ANZAC Day ceremony at 9am in the school hall. Parents and families are very welcome to join us for this occasion. Our Senior Choir and Senior Band will be performing as part of the ceremony. All of these families should have received an email reminding them that these students need to have their black and white performance uniforms ready to go for this date. If you missed this message or have any queries about the ceremony, please contact the relevant conductor (i.e. Melissa McMillan or Damon Lougheed).

Library News

Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair has left now but it was fabulous to see so many students and parents come along which made it the great success that it was. Thank you to all the parents for your amazing support and for sharing the gift of beautiful books and the love of reading with your child just in time for holiday reading!

Many of the books from the Fair will be added to our own library and our commission from sales will enable us to purchase more with our reward points.

Term 2 Reading Events

The term 2 reading events include the Premier’s Reading Challenge and National Simultaneous Storytime 2025!

We wish our students happy holiday reading with Yr 3-6 students able to keep accessing eBooks and everyone able to visit our wonderful BCC local libraries full of super books over the holidays.

Save the Date: Photo Day - Wednesday 30 April 2025

Photo Day will be in week 2 of Term 2, Wednesday 30 April 2025. Order envelopes have been distributed. You will be able to place you order online at www.msp.com.au or by putting the exact cash in your order envelope to be brought in on photo day. Sibling photo envelopes are available at the office upon request. If you have any questions, please contact MSP on 3865 4291.

Updated Stop, Kiss and Go Policies

To ensure our stop, kiss and go in the mornings and afternoons continues to be successful, please check out the updated policies below. Please not some changes have been incorporated into the After School Pick up and are bolded.

Office News

Facilities Update

Oval Closure

The school oval will continue to remain closed to students and staff. Soil sample results were returned confirming levels of  E. coli and thermotolerant coliforms exceeding the guidelines.

The laboratory recommended:

• Restrict access to the oval
• Keep being mowed short to allow UV to penetrate to the soil substrate
• Re-sampling will take place on Friday 4 April.

Damage caused by TC Alfred

The school is working closely with Q Build to undertake repairs to damaged fencing and removal of gravel from the oval caused by TC Alfred.

Q Build Disaster Recover Group continue to priorities “Make Safe” repairs to schools in South East Queensland before moving into the “Make Good” phase of works.

A contractor has been engaged by Q Build to commence repairs and clean-up of the fence and oval during the school holidays, weather dependent.

Office Hours

The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm, during the school term. 

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at admin@brookfieldss.eq.edu.au

Absences

Reporting an absence

Parents can report their student's absence via the following options:

• QParents 
• Email - absences@brookfieldss.eq.edu.au
• Phone - 07 3374 7333 option 1

Any absence that is more than 10 consecutive school days must be requested via an exemption form to be approved by the principal prior to the absence. Please see the link below for more information about why an exemption is required from compulsory schooling 

Unexplained Absences

To avoid having unexplained absences listed on your child/rens school report, please ensure any unexplained absences are corrected by informing office staff on the day of absence. These can also be updated via the QParents app.

Late Arrival and Early Pick Up

We ask that all parents please bring their students via the office if arriving after 8:55am to ensure they are signed in, which will update their absence on the roll. Please note that even if you have emailed Admin advising your student/s will be late it is still mandatory that they are brought to the office to sign in.

If you need to collect your child/ren early (before 2:55pm) please ensure that you email both your class teacher and Admin.

Please note ALL STUDENTS must come to the main office to be collected prior to 2:55pm, unless confirmed otherwise by Admin.

Ensuring your student/s sign in and out of school correctly is for their safety. We thank you for your understanding.

2025 Term Dates

• Term 2: Tuesday 22 April to Friday 27 June—10 weeks.
• Term 3: Monday 14 July to Friday 19 September—10 weeks.
• Term 4: Tuesday 7 October to Friday 12 December—10 weeks

Community News

Brookfield Show Society 

Would you like to be involved with this years Brookfield Show? We are seeking a steward to run our Childrens Art Section. If you are interested and would like the opportunity to be involved with the show, please contact the secretary at secretary@brookfieldshowsociety.com.au

Celebrate the end of term 1 at Brookfield Showgrounds on Friday 4 April from 4pm.

Brookfield Show Society is hosting a FREE family movie, "Clifford the Big Red Dog" on the oval from sunset, around 6:15pm.

Pop down early to secure your spot and enjoy dinner from food trucks and a drink from the bar at 550 Brookfield Rd, Brookfield.

A range of food vendors will be in attendance with something to suit everyone. These include a BBQ from Brookfield United Cricket Club, pizzas from BrizWoodfired Pizza, Asian fusion and chicken nuggets & chips from Hawker Eats and ice-cream from Hit the Soft Spot.

This event is FREE and made possible from our film sponsors: Savages Coffee, Green Spirit Landscapes, 4069 Real Estate and Kenmore Hills Early Learning.