In this issue

Free Dental Care

FREE DENTAL CARE

Park Ridge Healing Rooms

Cricket

Free Hotshots Tennis

PARK RIDGE TENNIS

A new season of Hot Shots Tennis Coaching is starting soon, a free trial lesson is available so anyone can come and have a go.

All new pupils receive a Free Racquet & Hot Shots T-Shirt on sign up.

We have lessons that run every afternoon, for all ages & levels.Mini Hotshots for 4-7 year olds, Hot Shot programs for 7-12 year olds & advanced groups for 12-17yr olds. For adults we have Cardio Tennis, Social  comps and lessons every week night & now a new Fast 4 comp for players starting or getting back into tennis, the Fast 4 format goes for just over an hour.

To book in or to arrange a free trial phone Paul or Steph on 32000354.

School Fees

Are deducted from your bank account on the 17th unless received by the 10th of each month.

Please ensure funds are in your account one (1) business day before the 17th of the month.

Our Bank Account details are as follows:

BSB: 034115
Account Number: 169944

Please use your surname and initials as reference e.g. ‘J&C Smith’

Term Direct Debit Deduction Dates

• 17th February
• 17th April
• 17th July
• 17th September

Note: Direct Debits that reject from your account due to insufficient funds will incur a $10.00 fee and loss of discount. An additional late fee of $20 will apply to invoices outstanding at the end of the month.

Discounts Available

• Monthly 2%
• Term 5%
• Annual 8%

Parklands Outside School Hours Care is situated within the school grounds of Parklands Christian College in the Prep Building Area.  The service operates for before school, after school and vacation care.  Before and after school care offers a nutritious breakfast/afternoon tea and children are able to engage in a variety of activities based on their interests.

During the school term the service operates from 6:30-8:30am and 3:00-6:00pm (with office staff available from 2pm), and vacation care from 6:30am-6:00pm.  Parklands OSHC have qualified educators and encourage parents and families to pop into the service to discuss any care needs, suggestions or ideas or alternatively via phone 3297 0577 or email:  parklandsoshc@simrick.com.

We currently have limited spots available for before and after school care and advise families that a current 2019 enrolment is required to accept all bookings including emergency care bookings.

We look forward to assisting with all your care needs.

Please find attached all of the Bus routes, that have been made available to Parklands families.

Bus Queensland now offer 3 pick ups in the afternoon outside Prep with various routes.

• Departing 3:22pm
• Departing 3:31pm
• Departing 3:45pm

As this is a service offered by Bus Queensland (not PCC) please direct all further enquires to Bus Queensland on 3802 1233 or email customers@busqld.com.au

PRT Changes to School Bus Routes (effective 29-01-2019)

6013

6055

6113 (1)

6142

6155

Subject to changes – please check the College Calendar on the College website for more detailed and up to date information on the above.

Term Dates 2020

Term Dates 2019

School Days only

Coming up this term we will be holding our annual Primary Spring Dance. Save the date, Friday 6^th September 2019. If you have a child in Primary School, they don’t won’t to miss out! This year we have DJ Steve who will be keeping the kids entertained on the dance floor all night with fun games and lots of prizes to be won. For all you Coffee and hot chocolate lovers, Michelle from Browns Plains Village Square Coffee Club will be on site. There will also be a sausage sizzle from 5.30pm available for purchase. The dance kicks off at 6pm – 8pm. Admission for the dance is only $5 per person (payable on the evening). The Spring Dance is for current students enrolled in 2019 from Prep – year 6. Please note this is a non-alcoholic event.

We are very excited to announce that we will also be holding a community BBQ at Bunnings Browns Plains on Saturday 14^th September. What a magnificent way to showcase our school by being out and about in our community. It will be wonderful if you are out to drop in and say hi, we always love to see some familiar faces too!

Woolworths Earn and Learn promotion is now finished. A massive thank you for all of you who collected stickers for our school. We had a fantastic response and together as a school collected 1177 full sticker sheets which equals 70620 stickers. These stickers are now being redeemed for valuable educational resources!

Have you ever read The Friendlies part in this newsletter and wondered who we are or what we do? Why not come along to one of our meetings, we are always welcoming to any of the parents within our school community. Our next meeting is on Friday 9^th August 2019 at Park Ridge Maccas from 6.45pm.

If you are not available to come to meetings but would love to stay updated, or help out at our different events just email friendlies@parklands.qld.edu.au and it will be our pleasure to add you to our email list.

Keep Smiling

The Friendlies Team

Tuckshop in need of volunteers

There is an opportunity for parents to contribute to the life of the school by volunteering their time in the tuckshop.

The tuckshop has been growing since moving to the new facility and with growth in sales we would really love your help!

Please contact our Tuckshop Convenor, Marie Rushin, on 0422 637 370 or email tuckshop@parklands.qld.edu.au

The College Fete on Sat 1^stJune was the first performance for both this year’s Give It A Go! Band & our brand new Wind Ensemble, and if you were there I think you’ll agree they both did very well. Performing outside is always hard, so our students are to be commended for their outstanding effort so early in the year. It was fantastic to hear all our choirs as well, and so much music from every Primary class – music is alive and well at Parklands!

In Term 3 we are planning our first Instrumental Evening, an early evening concert as a chance for our performance groups & some soloists to perform. There will be a fundraising sausage sizzle to support the Friendlies starting at 5pm in the courtyard outside the Auditorium, & the concert will begin at 6pm. We hope you can join us for an evening of fun & fine music, more details will be made available in Term 3.

All weekly rehearsals will continue in Term 3 as normal:

Give It A Go! Band rehearses Wednesday 7:30-8:15am

Wind Ensemble rehearses Wednesday 7:30-8:15am

Primary Junior Choir rehearses Wednesday 7:45-8:15am

Primary Senior Choir rehearses Wednesday 2:30-3:10pm

Secondary Choir rehearses Friday 7:30-8:15am

Give It A Go! Band Programme in 2020

Students in Year 4 will begin to consider in Term 3 how they might like to be involved in the 2020 Give It A Go! Band Programme. There will be a parent Information Evening near the middle of the term which will give everyone an idea of how the programme runs, so we hope as many Year 4 parents as possible can make it to that. Later in Term 3 the students will have the chance to try the instruments out & tell us which ones they think they’d like to do, before offers are made early in Term 4. We can’t wait to share the fun of music with more students!

It’s never not too late to be part of the Instrumental Programme in 2019 – here’s how your child can be involved:

1. Private lessons – all ages

Private lessons are available for piano, guitar, drum kit, most woodwind & and all brass & stringed instruments. Lessons are scheduled mostly during school time, & fees are billed by & payable directly to the instrumental teachers at $30/30mins.

2. Shared lessons – all ages

Shared lessons are available for all of the above instruments except piano. Lessons are again scheduled mostly during school time, & fees are also billed by & payable directly to the instrumental teachers at $18/30mins for a Group of 2, or $14/30mins for a Group of 3, pending availability.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions on instruments@parklands.qld.edu.au

Technology/Screen Time

It is amazing to think that our phones and many watches now have 100x – 10000x the computing power that took man to the moon. I hear stories of people gathering to watch the landing on the moon as not everyone had a TV. These days most households have up to 2 devices per person that people could be watching, in colour, whatever they want and whenever they want. Digital media, technology and screen time has increased significantly and has become a normal and in some cases necessary part of life.

So how do we manage this? How do we make sure that our children do not become mindlessly glued to the screen? Here are a few ideas to try out at home:

Create a plan

Sit down as a family and work out a plan. Write this down so you remember what it is you are trying to achieve and gain from this. Your child does not need to see the plan but it helps if you have a strategy. You can use the following as a guide for your plan.

What is your goal?

Is your goal with your child connection? How are you wanting to interact with your child? What example do you want to show them? Write down what goal you have with the screen time in your house both for adults and for children. What are you wanting to achieve?

Know your Child and your Values

What are your family values? What character traits do you want your child to have?

What do you know about your child- what are their dislikes and likes, hobbies etc.? What can they handle and what is it that they struggle with? Some people have great self-control while others need to work harder at this. How does your child manage responsibility?  What are their responsibilities? How can you increase their experience of responsibility- ie. chores, attend training or other extra circular activities, plan or attend a family event or just enjoy the outdoors?

Set Clear rules and boundaries

You are the adult and the parent. You make the final decision. Set clear rules around screen time use. Such as:

• Parent has access to spot checks on use, emails, text messages and other social media
• Screen time occurs in public areas of the house (no bedrooms)
• Screen time occurs after homework and chores are complete
• Screen time may be reduced to weekends except for school work
• Screen free time – plan this into your schedule (ie. Sunday afternoons)
• Screens off an hour before going to bed – minimum at least 15mins ( this allows the brain to calm down and get into the right patterns for sleep)
• Wi-Fi to be turned off by 10pm every night (if you can hit this goal you are probably doing a great job managing screen time responsibly)

Be consistent

Once you have established the family rules/guidelines with screen time STICK to them. No matter how you feel this is a boundary that you have set up and your child needs to know they can trust your word. If they chose to fight this rule one afternoon, use the LOKOP one liners – Fun or room? If they consistently ask you for screen time. Yes you can as soon as (add in the job or condition that you need to have meet).

Age /Maturity appropriateness

There are ratings for a reason. Use these as a bench mark to work from and be aware of what they are wanting to play or watch. What works for one child may not for another. Just because their friends are playing this game or watching that show or movie does not mean that it is good/right or appropriate for them. So what is the level of your child and work with that, yes it may be different for each child. They will say that is not fair, your answer could be – I know… probably so…

Stay up to date with their usage

What are they up to? What are they watching and what are they playing? Who are they talking with and too? What is that game about and what do you need to do in the game. The latest game craze at the moment is Fortnite. What is the rating for this game? Do you know what it is and what they need to do in this game? Regularly check and ask questions, even have a go yourself and make this a connection point with your child.

Know their school work

Keep informed about what tasks are required for their subjects. Sometimes they will need to access technology, but there are may tasks that do not require this. Parents can fall into the trap of thinking because their child is ‘studying’ they are using technology appropriately. This is a myth, study and exam week results in the highest incidents of online bulling across Australia. Why? Students are bored, easily distracted and stressed. This is a terrible combination for reacting negatively toward peers. During weeks 8 and 9 of term please turn up the vigilance!!!

Communicate with your kids

Talk with your child. Ask them about the screen time they are doing, what game are they playing and what shows are they watching? What is it about or what do you need to do? Why is this fun to watch this or play this? Join in, sit down and watch with them for a moment, play the game with them or watch them play and ask questions. Be interested in their interests and their screen time activities.

8.30am – 3.20pm

Whilst your child is at school they are required to use their technology for class work only. If a student needs to contact a parent they are required to phone them from student services. We ask parents to please refrain from texting or emailing their child during school hours.

For further information please check these out:

Coffee, Kids and Crazy podcast – Back to school and Screentime – By Loving on Purpose – Brittney Serpell

Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner  – Information on online safety and screen time activities

Common Sense Media – Check on ratings, content and storylines. Plus many other resources.

Cyber Safety Solutions – Learn about safety for your child whilst online.

Family Contracts for Screen time – Use one of their templates or just use this as a guide when you write your own!

Welcome to the adventure of building great relationships with your child around appropriate use of technology. Enjoy your time with your child teaching, modelling and monitoring the screen time world!

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood Production

Secondary College Production 2019

As you read this article, there are less than 2 weeks to go until our opening performance of The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods! Have you bought your tickets yet?

The last few months and weeks have been a flurry of activity as students across Years 8-12 have been practicing their lines, building and painting set pieces, creating costumes, and developing hair and makeup designs in preparation for our secondary production. On the last Friday of holidays, while everyone else was eagerly anticipating their return to school and making the most of their last opportunity to rest, our hard working cast and crew got up early and met at the Logan West Community Centre for an all-day rehearsal of the performance.

We are all excited to invite you and your family to come along to The Sleeping Beauty in The Woods.

It is a comedy adventure, suitable for all ages, that follows an intrepid prince on his quest to save the sleeping princess, who is not as much of a damsel in distress as the fairytales want us to believe.

There are three performances:

Evening Shows – Friday 26^th and Saturday 27^th July:

The show commences at 7:00pm, food is served from 6:15pm
Both evening performances will be catered by the Hospitality team before the show and during the intermission. The catering is included in the ticket price.
Adults (12 and over) are $15 each
Children (2-11) are $10 each
Infants under 2 are free of charge if they share a seat with a paying adult

Matinee Show – Saturday 27^th July:

The show commences at 12:00pm
Adults (12 and over) are $10 each
Children (2-11) are $6 each
Infants under 2 are free of charge if they share a seat with a paying adult
This performance is not catered, but a sausage sizzle ($1.50ea) will be available after the show.
All shows have a 20 minute intermission.

The performances will be held at the Logan West Community Centre: 2 Wineglass Drive, Hillcrest. There is plenty of free parking available on site.

To order your tickets, please go to the following website: https://www.trybooking.com/517974
Payment is via Credit Card only.

Please come and support the wonderful work of our students and staff as we celebrate the gifts and talents of so many in our school community, and join together as we embark on this entertaining quest to defeat evil and wake the sleeping beauty.

Tuckshop in need of volunteers

There is an opportunity for parents to contribute to the life of the school by volunteering their time in the tuckshop.

The tuckshop has been growing since moving to the new facility and with growth in sales we would really love your help!

Please contact our Tuckshop Convenor, Marie Rushin, on 0422 637 370 or email tuckshop@parklands.qld.edu.au

Welcome Back

I trust you had a lovely holiday break, having spent time doing the nice, fun and relaxing things you enjoy with family and friends? At the start of this semester I wish you and the students everything of the best for the term that lies ahead.

Reports

All students should have received an ‘End of Semester Report’ in the post at the conclusion of last term. If you haven’t received it in the post, please kindly contact Admin. This report should confirm what your child’s teacher informed you of at the Profile Afternoon / Night or has given you feedback throughout the term as to how your child has progressed.

On Wednesday 31^st July we have our Primary P/T Interviews up in the Function Room, where you can book an interview ‘on line’ to discuss your child’s report with their class teacher. Be on the lookout for the Informative Letter with more information, booking times and procedures!

Uniforms

For the start of Term 3, could you please ensure ALL uniform items, lunch boxes/water bottles and bags are clearly relabeled with your child’s name? Ensure that black shoes are polished, hair is cut and the correct uniform items are worn – jumper with Academic Uniform and the tracksuit jacket with Sport Uniform. Please also check Yr. 1-6 students are wearing predominantly WHITE sneakers / sand shoes with their sports uniform.

If unsure of any uniform requirements, please feel free to check the School Website (Online Store – Uniform Policy – Primary) or ask the RTC staff or class teachers. Thank you for your understanding and assistance in this regard.

Prep to Under 9s Athletics Day

A reminder that we have our Prep to Gr 3 (Under 9 yr. olds) Athletics Day Carnival at the school up on the top sports oval on MONDAY 22^nd July. A letter explaining the day’s process, procedures and program will be forthcoming!

We’re looking forward to seeing lots or parents and grandparents attending the lower Primary carnival and supporting the students as they give of their best!

Safety aspects in and around our school

An ongoing emphasis has been placed on ‘child safety’ from the beginning of the year whereby we’re continually reminding students to: walk on the concrete, stay under the verandahs or covered areas when raining and moving around the school, don’t push and shove and walk in single file up and down the stairs, play nicely and safely on the playgrounds and to have “KIND words and FRIENDLY action” when at school. Can we ask that you please remind your child to do likewise when at school?

Parents, please be very careful and vigilant around the pedestrian crossing, when opening car doors in the car parks and to please stick to the 20 km/h speed limit when driving through the school?

Can we please remind all parents and students that the safest and only place to cross the Rosia Rd car park should be at the pedestrian crossing and not just before the top exit gate, close to the Gr 5 classrooms! THANK YOU for your support in keeping our students safe!

Helping Children Bounce Back

Helping Children Bounce Back!

The Personal Skills of RESILIENCE

There are many skills that we can teach students to provide them with a resilience ‘tool kit’ for coping with life and being successful. We can teach our children to be optimistic by, for example:

• Showing them how to find the positives (however small) in negative situations;
• Helping them to understand that negative situations in your life are temporary and that bad situations are specific and do not necessarily flow over into all aspects of your life.

Many children become unnecessarily distressed and fearful because they distort a situation or they have incorrect and unhelpful beliefs that make it less likely that they will attempt to solve a problem.

Examples of such thinking include:

• I must be perfect and never make any mistakes
• If something bad has happened to me once it will happen again

Young people also need to learn skills for being confident as part of their ‘resilience tool kit’. These skills include:

• Knowing their own strengths and limitations and being prepared to work hard and not give up despite encountering obstacles; (parents don’t always look to solve their situations / fight their battles for them)
• Realise that not everyone will treat them kindly and nicely all the time; (parents to give examples of own situations and instances)
• Making good decisions and seeking advice from parents and teachers is wise so their decisions are more likely to be good ones; (parents offer good advice not always solutions)
• Solving problems creatively or telling a teacher helps to solve the situation; (this is not ‘dobbing’, but allows staff to assist them by attending to matters). If the police can use “Crime Stoppers” to seek information, we too ask students to report matters to staff and the RTC.
• Knowing that mistakes are OK (parents to reinforce students that mistakes are Ok)

It’s evident that young people with well-developed social skills are more likely to be resilient and to have a good support network of friends when needed. Key social skills can be taught and practiced in a range of classroom and playground situations. Skills for knowing triggers of anxiety or anger can be taught and finding the confidence to act courageously when necessary, are also an important part of a young person’s resilience ‘tool kit’.

Through many areas of the curriculum, teachers can encourage their students to develop and try to live by our values such as Christlikeness, Excellence, Attitude, Respect, Cooperation and Acceptance of differences. Parents can reinforce and role model these situations and ideas at home, thus offering the child every opportunity to see resilience in action!

Looking forward to a wonderful term of doing your child’s education together.

Greetings

I take this opportunity to answer a regular question that I am asked, that being “Who will lead the school next year?”.  The quick answer is “I will still be here”, however I would like to share the Board’s plans for a transition of leadership that we have every confidence will be good for all.

A little history to explain the journey to this consideration.

We opened the doors of Parklands Christian College in 2001 for just Primary students from Year 1 to Year 6. This gave us two years to prepare for high school starting with Year 8 in 2003.

Because of my previous involvement in Calvary Christian College at Townsville, I had made many friends who were leading schools throughout Queensland.   As I approached the start of High School at Parklands, the Principal of Mackay Christian College, who is a good friend, brought a young male teacher down to visit me with recommendations that he would love the opportunity to pioneer the secondary part of our College.

His name was Gary Cully. History now shows that not only did he do a great job with that first class of students, but he established and led with distinction, a fully functioning secondary school. While he was teaching, he pioneered the Behaviour Education program, developed a Learning Enrichment program, pioneered the Missions program to Cambodia, established a management system in our school centred around Student Services. In his spare time he developed the gardens to what they are today.

I am sure this list could be added to in so many areas of the life of the school because he was everywhere making our school work.  Throughout this time I was spending time talking about my experiences with him and directing him to training programs and involvement to the wider Christian School community to broaden his experience and prepare him for future leadership.

He was well aware that the opportunity to lead Parklands was simply a timing issue, and against this backdrop he led another Missions trip to Cambodia and during that trip he was approached by a Mission group to consider leaving the comfort of Australia and setting up a Vocational Education & Training School for disadvantaged young Filipino women in Cebu.  After much consideration he said “yes”.

I honour Gary in this decision.   In spite of all my plans, I could only share with him my own experiences of career plans being changed by the call of God on my life.   I shared with him all the anxious times I had experienced because I said “yes” to these calls, because it meant leaving all my security and trusting God.

Gary and his family have established a wonderful Vocational Training School in Cebu, giving many girls healing, hope and a future. After almost 3 years of successful operations, its leadership is now being handed over to a local Filipino team who are eager and ready to take the reins.  In the midst of this transition process, I contacted Gary to advise him that we were looking for a person to lead Parklands.  He has agreed to join with me next year, in what can only be described as “the old team together again”, and over an undetermined time, I will help him understand all the things a Principal does.

It is something we have not set a time on; however I am keen to lessen my load to just helping around the school, and spend more time with our many grandchildren.  Our sixteenth grandchild will be born in the next month.

God bless

Mr B

Active Volunteering

Bailey Muller volunteered at the PCYC community event (as part of his Active Volunteering hours) called Embrace today in Beenleigh. It’s a family fun run/obstacle race. He was so stoked to have met Jeff Horn (boxer) and got a pic with him.

The Year 10 Active Volunteering class participated in a practical activity of making meals for our family food bank freezer. These meals go out to families in our community in times of need. The students had a fabulous day and prepared a delicious meal.

Year 12 Sport and Recreation students say a massive thank you to their peers and Year 4!

This term the Year 12 Cert II Sport and Recreation students (Ella, Nathanial and Jasmine) have been planning training sessions and delivering them to other students every Friday. A huge thank you to their peers and all the Year 4 students who assisted them in achieving competency with their practical coaching tasks. The students participated with enthusiasm in a gym session, soccer, Oz tag and finishing off with a boot camp for the fittest of the bunch. A lot of fun was had by all!