Brookfield Banter 23/04/25

From the Acting Principal - Katie Lewis

Welcome Back

By the reports being excitedly shared from students during the first two days back, it sounds like there were many enjoyable holiday adventures amongst our Brookie families. From overseas trips, visits to the movies, playdates with friends, trips to the beach, the city, the outback or interstate, time spent with family and the chance to sleep in - it sounds like our families have covered most bases in holiday adventures! I was fortunate to spend just over a week in New Zealand with my family and a few days in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland also, filling the memory banks with time well spent with loved ones.

Term 2 is always an exciting, and yet another busy term with key events including ANZAC Day, School Photos, Mother's Day, the Brookie Show, the Bush Dance, Under 8s Week, Cross Country Carnival, Athletics Carnival and Year 5 Camp to name but a few! Our Community Calendar is a great way to keep on top of all of our events - you will find it below. We also endeavour to include these key events as 'events' on our Facebook page, where you can find essential details to help keep you and your family organised.

We will have our first Senior Assembly on Wednesday 23 April, with proceedings underway from 1:50pm in the Hall.  As always, we welcome families to attend.

ANZAC Events 

Brookfield State School ANZAC Service

We will host our Brookfield State School ANZAC Service at 9am on Thursday 24 April in the Hall.  This Service is conducted by our School Captains, along with a representative from our local RSL Branch, Mr Ian Tomlinson. Our students contribute to a wreath in their classes during the week, and these are laid as part of the Service.  We will also enjoy performances from our Senior Choir and Senior Band as part of this service. Senior Choir and Senior Band students are reminded to wear their performance uniform for this event and bring their school uniform to change into - refer to Mrs McMillan's and Mr Lougheed's email for more information. Families are welcome and encouraged to attend this service.

Kenmore Moggill RSL Sub-Branch Service at Brookfield Showgrounds

We will be proudly marching as a school as part of the local ANZAC Service here in Brookfield on Friday 25 March. Students are welcome to march with our school, wearing full school uniform including hat and sunscreen. We march down Boscombe Road, along Brookfield Road and into the Showgrounds near the roundabout entrance gates. Following the march, we are seated with other schools on the Showgrounds for the service component.  A small water bottle may be beneficial for your child to carry (if they are able to manage it themselves).

We will meet near the Good Shepherd Anglican Church on Boscombe Road from 8.30am.  Last year was the first time we had marshalled in this area and marched this route. We found that our school was placed further along the road and will likely be again this year.  We also found that the march didn't get underway until much closer to, or just after 9:00am.  When you arrive, if you don't see our school at the Church, please walk further up Boscombe Road until you find us.  Mrs Cathcart and I will be present and will both be in Brookfield Staff Shirts. Parents can leave students to march with us, then collect them from the Showgrounds following the service.  When collecting your child/ren, please be sure to let Mrs Cathcart or myself know that you are collecting your child/ren.

There is traditionally a range of activities, food trucks and exhibits to enjoy at the Showgrounds following the service, along with the Shell Green Cricket match.  We look forward to having a strong contingent of Brookfield students marching with us again this year.

Northern Eagles Cross Country - Limestone Park

Thank you to Mr Bidner and Mrs Lizel Moore for running our Cross Country trials at the end of last term, on a VERY wet Wednesday! Those students who have been identified to represent Brookfield at the Northern Eagles Cross Country trials have received appropriate permissions and paperwork from Mr Bidner and Mrs Moore.  Please return this as soon as possible if you are yet to do so.

Details for the trials are as follows:

Date: Tuesday 29 April, 2025

Venue: Limestone Park, Ipswich

Transport: To be taken there and back by parent/guardian

Time: TBC

Cost: $5 To be paid to the office when invoiced.

Age: 10 – 12 Years (by 31 December 2025).

What Students Need to Bring: Appropriate footwear, hat, sunscreen and water bottle. Please wear your school Sports Running singlet.  Can be purchased from the uniform shop.

We wish all of our students the best of luck at this event, we can't wait to hear the results!

Don't forget, we will be running our School Cross Country Carnival on Wednesday 14 May - more details to follow.

School Photos - Wednesday 30 April

Time to book the haircuts and find the most green and fresh polo shirt in the collection - school photos are scheduled for Wednesday 30 April here at Brookfield State School. Photo envelopes came home before the holidays, please follow instructions to order your photos through MSP Photography.

Families who have booked for sibling photos are to have students at the BSS Hall from 7:45am. A line will form on the stairs outside the Hall, with sibling photos being taken until 8.40am.

Community Calendar - Term 2

From the Deputy Principal - Leah Cathcart

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 of the ANZAC traditions. We are proud of those who have protected our country.

In our PBL focus this week we discussed how we will demonstrate respectful behaviour during ANZAC Assembly:​

• Keeping my hands to myself​
• Keeping my feet to myself​
• Giving people personal space​
• Treating others in the same way that I want to be treated​
• Listening to presenters speak, and musicians/choir perform

We discussed and practised ANZAC assembly protocols:

• All students will walk to the hall with their class and sit in designated areas
• Class leaders will carry the class wreath and place it at the flag when invited
• We will not clap at this special assembly at any time
• We will demonstrate respect at all times.

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.

Under Eights Week Celebration 2025

Date Claimer:

• Under Eights Week at BSS
• Friday 16 May 9:00-11:00
• Prep, Year 1, Year 2

Acting Deputy - Lisa McKay

Reading at Brookfield State School 

At Brookfield State School, our approach to reading instruction is grounded in evidence-based strategies, supported by extensive research and aligned with Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum. Over the past two years, our staff have been actively building their expertise in the Big 6 of Reading—a framework that encompasses the six essential components of effective reading instruction (see image below).

Beginning next week, I will be highlighting one of these six elements each week, providing insights into how it supports students’ reading development. 

Reading Intervention Program - MiniLit 

At Brookfield we currently have MiniLit which runs for students who need reading support in years 1 and 2. MiniLit is an evidence-based, explicit and effective early literacy intervention program for teaching reading skills to children who are in Year 1 or 2. MiniLit is a Tier 2 small group program (up to five students per group). MiniLit has been successfully implemented for the past 18 months. 

Reading Intervention Program - MacqLit

MacqLit is an explicit and systematic reading intervention program for small groups of older readers in years 3-6. It has a comprehensive sequence of lessons that includes all the key components necessary for effective reading instruction such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. A number of staff members attended the training last term. We are currently in the process of setting up this program at our school. 

From the Social Worker - Mrs D

As term 2 commences, we have an opportunity to look forward and choose to be grateful for all the good, bad and messy things that we may have to face. Scanning the world and our experiences to look for positives is a great way to switch things around for ourselves.  Practising gratitude every day increases our levels of energy and helps us feel happier, more focused, determined and optimistic. It even helps us have a better sleep, lowers levels of anxiety and depression and we are less likely to get sick. So many benefits – let’s all try to be grateful for the things and people in our lives every day!  It only takes 21 days to develop a habit.

Are you up for the challenge?!  Here are some other ideas of how we can focus on feeling gracious.

Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

As a family, create a list of things that make you happy or that you are grateful for.

You can make your own list or use the examples below:

• Something that makes you happy
• Something you love to smell
• Something you enjoy looking at
• Something that is your favourite colour
• Something you like in nature
• Something that is useful for you

Now, have each family member use the list to find as many things as they can. You might like to hunt for things inside or outside, or both. You could hunt for real things, or you could use pictures from magazines or the internet.  After you’ve finished hunting, come back together and talk about what each person has collected and why they are grateful for each item.

Dinner Time Gratitude: Every night at dinner, have each person talk about their favourite thing about that day.

School Watch

Sadly, our school experienced some wilful damage during the school holiday period. This activity was reported to police. Please help protect our school by reporting any suspicious behaviour, even if it seems minor.

Music News

Our Senior Choir and Senior Band will be performing in tomorrow’s school ANZAC ceremony. These students have been asked to wear their black and white performance uniform to school in the morning and to pack a normal school uniform in to get changed into after the ceremony. Please refer to emails sent home from conductors for further details.

In other news, all three of our school choirs (Junior, Intermediate and Senior) will be performing in the biennial Fanfare competition on Thursday May 29 at Kenmore SHS. Keep an eye out for details coming out soon.

Library News

Premier’s Reading Challenge May 6 - August 22

The very successful 2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge is on again! To enter the Challenge students, complete the yellow Reading Record Form and send back to the school office. Prep to Year 2 should read or experience at least 20 books. Yr 3-4 read 20 books and Year 5-6 read 15 books to complete the challenge.

The library captains will be distributing the forms to students in Week 3. Each student who completes the challenge will receive a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier.  Go Brookfield readers!

Save the Date: National Simultaneous Storytime Event – Week 5

New Books

We have beautiful junior picture books and 15 new titles in our Non-Fiction Music section including Taylor Swift, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Bob Dylan, U2 and more.

Helping Hands News

Save the Date: Photo Day - Wednesday 30 April 2025

Photo day is on next week Wednesday 30 April! Order envelopes have been distributed. You will be able to place your 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.

Sibling Photos

Sibling photos will be taken in the hall from 7:45am. If your children will be with Helping Hands at this time, please ensure that they are made aware of this and they will be taken to the hall. A line will form on the stairs outside the Hall, with sibling photos being taken until 8:40am.

Extra-Curricular Calendar - Term 1

Office News

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

Facilities Update

Oval Closure

The school oval will continue to remain closed to students and staff. Re-sampling of soil for E. Coli took place Monday 14 April. Results are yet to be received.

Repairs and clean-up of the fence and oval was not completed during the school holidays due to the oval being too soft for machinery. Q Build will be advising a new date for these repairs to take place. I would like to extend thanks to all staff and students for your patience with this matter.

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 1: Tuesday 28 January to Friday 4 April—10 weeks.
• 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 

SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

The Brookfield Show will run from Friday 23 May to Sunday 25 May 2025. You can purchase your tickets by using the QR code on the flyer below or by following the link provided.

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS FOR SHOW:

The Brookfield Show's success is only because we have community members kindly giving their time. If you would like to volunteer, please follow the link below.