Term 2 Week 6 Newsletter

From the Principal - Cassandra Clarke

Welcome to week 6!

I would like to welcome Ms Mary-Ann Venter to 1G, taking over from Ms Garrod, we hope you enjoy your time here at BCSS.

A big thank you to our Prep teachers and Stacey, our P&C President, for speaking at the 2026 Prep Information evening. It was lovely to see so many new families preparing for school next year. If your child is turning 5 before 30 June 2026, please contact the office to enrol your child for Prep.

There are so many things happening at our school before the holidays. Some of these activities will require permission and payments, so please check your QParents for these.

These include:

• Friday 30 May: Year 4 /5/ 6 Gala Day (Hopefully the weather stays sunny!)
• Wednesday 4 June: Senior Sports Day at Windsor
• Wednesday 11 June: Year 3 – 6 Cybersafety session &
• Wednesday 11 June: Parent Cybersafety session – 5:30pm in the Library
• Monday 16 June: Junior Sports Day on the Oval
• Saturday 21 June: P&C Event – Winter Solstice
• Tuesday 24 June: Under 8s Day - 9:00am to 10:30am on the Oval
• Wednesday 25 June: Year 5 & 6 Life Education Van visit
• Friday 27 June: Last Day of Term 2

Cybersafety Sessions for Students and Parents

On Wednesday 11 June, years 3-6 will be participating in cybersafety sessions. Notes will be going home shortly. Part of the learning that will be covered include:

Years 3 & 4: Incorporating the trending games and websites kids use with a focus on presenting cyber safety themes using a game-based delivery. This session is interactive, engaging, and full of practical strategies students can apply to real-world scenarios they experience. Covering the themes of personal private information and chatting safely online with a strong emphasis on the importance of help seeking behaviours, students cement the foundational knowledge required to enact online safety practices for positive outcomes.

Key themes discussed in this session:

• Private information
• Chatting safely online
• Seeking help

Years 5 & 6: This session also encompasses and explains the many benefits of connecting and socialising online while effectively addressing the importance of being alert to risks. Utilising real-world stories and role play, we provide students with a safe forum to explore the impact of key themes such as cyber bullying, social exclusion, and the power of bystanders who choose to stand up and contribute to positive issue resolution. Using situationally analysis, we assess some of the main risks associated with games, social media, and the long-term impact on digital footprints.

Key themes discussed in this session:

• Cyber bullying and bystander empowerment
• Safety on social media and games
• Digital footprints

A Parent Session will also be held on Wednesday 11 June, starting at 5:30pm in the Library. Please click the link to RSVP your attendance. I look forward to seeing you there.

Click here to RSVP to Parent Cybersafety Night: https://forms.office.com/r/2Q9CAyyjaH

National Reconciliation Week

This week, I was invited to attend a Welcome to Country to acknowledge National Reconciliation Week. It was a lovely morning of indigenous music, stories and artworks. National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.  There is also a flyer attached to this Newsletter.

Report Cards
The weeks are slipping away quickly as we move into the busy time of the term. This can be a challenging time for students as the focus moves from learning to demonstrating and applying knowledge and skills. 

During assessment periods we can sometimes see a change in student engagement in school. Our teachers are very supportive of their students during assessment periods. This includes the language they use to talk about assessment and the strategies they employ that assist students to undertake tasks successfully. 

Giving students multiple opportunities to show what they know, breaking larger tasks into smaller chunks, utilising teacher aides to support task completion and spacing assessments so that students don’t become overwhelmed are all ways our teachers support our students. 

If you notice a change in your child’s attitude to school during this time it is important to contact your class teacher to discuss ways we can work together to support them. At the end of this term all students will receive their Semester 1 Report Card. These will be sent out to families on Friday 27 June 2025.

Deputy Principal - Nik Taufatofua

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As we move through the term, I would like to take a moment to reflect on some of the positive developments across our school community and share a few suggestions to help support student engagement and wellbeing.

Firstly, thank you to all families for your cooperation and patience during afterschool pick-up. Your calm and courteous conduct helps ensure a safe and smooth process for everyone. It is greatly appreciated by our staff and contributes to the positive atmosphere around our school grounds each afternoon.

Today’s GALA Day was a great success! Despite a little rain, our students represented the school with enthusiasm and great sportsmanship. It was wonderful to see them engaging with peers from other schools and enjoying the day’s activities.

A quick reminder to please check the lost property area, which is located just outside the library. There are a number of jumpers, drink bottles, and other personal items waiting to be claimed. Any uncollected items will soon be repurposed, so we encourage families to check as soon as possible. Please also ensure that all personal belongings are clearly labelled with your child’s name—this makes it much easier for items to be returned promptly.

Student engagement and wellbeing remain a top priority for us. We know that when students feel connected and supported, they are more likely to thrive both academically and socially. Here are a few ways you can help foster this at home:

• Encourage regular routines: Consistent sleep, homework, and screen time habits help students feel more prepared and less overwhelmed.
• Stay connected: Take a few minutes each day to ask your child about their day. Simple questions like “What was something that made you smile today?” can open the door to meaningful conversations.
• Support involvement: Encourage your child to participate in extracurricular activities, whether it's sport, music or clubs. These experiences build confidence and a sense of belonging.
• Promote a growth mindset: Help your child view challenges as opportunities to learn and grow rather than as setbacks.

We also encourage students to reach out to their teachers or a trusted adult if they are feeling uncertain or overwhelmed. As always, we are here to support every student on their journey.

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in creating a safe, respectful, and inclusive school environment.

Head of Curriculum - Maureen Kelly

What can we do to make the written report cards meaningful for parents? 

The Teaching and Learning Reference group is undertaking consultation with parents and carers over the next few weeks to gain perspectives on how we can best communicate with parents and carers about student learning and achievement though the end of semester written reports.  Your input can help shape the decisions we make regarding written report cards from Semester 2 2205.  We are keen to hear the perspectives of parents and look forward to working together to making our written report cards more meaningful for informing parents about their child’s achievement and learning.

Consultation opportunities:

To provide input on how we, as a school, can best communicate through the written report cards. 

• From Monday 2 June - online survey will be available to parents https://forms.office.com/r/u9fdEcKzxW 

• On Friday 7 June 8:30-9:00 (before assembly) - focus group discussion for parents in the school library

The Teaching and Learning Reference Group is a team made up of staff and parents, formed to gain feedback on and input into school policies and practices developed in line with Department of Education policy for the delivery of the curriculum for all students. 

We look forward to hearing from many parents. 

Learning Webs

Each term parents are provided with an overview of the curriculum that the students are learning for that term.  These are called the Learning Webs.  The Learning Webs also provide key school and class information. 

The Learning Webs are emailed by the class teachers to parents and are also available on the Brisbane Central State School website. 

Updated link:  https://brisbanecentralss.eq.edu.au/curriculum/learning-areas 

The Arts Dance and Drama Curriculum Delivery

To enhance our delivery of the Australian Curriculum, The Arts – Dance and Drama, we engage specialist dance and drama instructors from Grin and Tonic Troupe for dance/drama lessons for a block of four lessons in Term 3.

Class teachers are responsible for teaching, assessing and reporting on The Arts dance or drama curriculum in second semester as part of our set curriculum.  The specialist dance and drama instructors assist with the delivery of the focus learning.

For more information about The Arts curriculum for your child’s year level see:  https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/help/parent-information/what-students-learn-during-the-first-11-years-of-school 

Drama lessons will be provided for Year 3 and Year 5 classes, including 5/6K.

Dance lessons will be provided for Year 1, Year 4 and Year 6.

Prep and Year 2 students are also engaging in learning in The Arts area and the design of their learning is supported by the class teachers rather than the specialist instructor.  

The cost of approximately $25 per student will be invoiced to parents.  The final total will be determined and invoices emailed in the coming weeks.  The lessons are scheduled on Mondays in Term 3.  We are delighted to be welcoming Kellie and Jacinta from Grin and Tonic to develop our students’ knowledge and abilities in how we express ourselves through drama or dance to build our staff capacity in this area of the curriculum.   

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact the class teacher or Maureen Kelly, Head of Department, Curriculum, mkell83@eq.edu.au.

NCCD Fact Sheet

National Simultaneous Story Time

On Wednesday, May 22, our Prep to Year 2 students joined thousands of children across Australia to celebrate National Simultaneous Story Time (NSS)—an exciting annual event where students across the nation read the same book at the same time. 

This year’s featured book was Trucker Cat by Jennifer Cossins, a heartwarming story about a curious cat who travels across Australia in a big truck, making friends and learning that kindness and acceptance are the keys to happiness. 

Mrs Kelly and Mrs Clarke brought the story to life with an animated reading in the school library. As the students listened, the powerful message of the story shone through: be kind to others and you’ll be happy. One Prep student shared, “Be kind to each other and you’ll be happy,” while another reflected, “Everyone all over the places had the same answer for how to be happy—being kind.” 

A particularly special moment came when Mrs Clarke read a line about the characters speaking more than one language. She said, “For me it’s a special story because some of the characters can speak another language—just like a lot of our students at BCSS.” Many children excitedly raised their hands to say they spoke another language too, clearly feeling a personal connection to the story. 

National Simultaneous Story Time is always a highlight on our school calendar, and this year reminded us not only of the joy of shared reading but also of the importance of embracing each other’s languages, cultures, and kindness. 

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Library News

LIBRARY MONITORS

If we have approximately 520 students at our school and they borrow 2 books each week, have you ever wondered how 1,040 books per week are reshelved?

Yes, a substantial portion these books are reshelved (that’s after the students do the most amazing referrals and trading of books with each from the ‘Drop and Go’ section of the library borrowing counter) by the library staff, however, the remaining books are reshelved   by our reliable, diligent student library monitors.

They attend training with Mrs Nida Mateen once a week (Friday 2^nd break). They have a weekly library monitor roster for reshelving books and they volunteer to go once a week to the library in their lunch breaks after eating their lunch to reshelve library books.

The training and reshelving includes:

Junior Fiction – Picture Books and Short Reads

Junior Non-Fiction – The famous One and Two Green Dot books

Junior Fiction – Red and Orange Dot Series

Non- Fiction – Blue Dots – Horrible Histories/Science/Geography, Murderous Maths and Dead Famous

Fiction Series – Chapter Books – My Australian Story, My Story, Our Australian Girl, Star Wars, choose your own Adventure, 39 Clues, Geronimo, Thea Stilton books and Graphic Novels.

Fiction Large Books – Christmas, Easter and ANZAC

Fiction General – Shelved by author’s surname, alphabetical by first three letters.

Oops!! Don’t Forget Non-Fiction – Computers 000-004, Animals, Fairy Tales 398 and Religion 200).

Thank you for volunteering to be Library Monitors.

The library shelves look ‘AMAZING’.

Senior Athletics Carnival

Our Senior Athletics Carnival for Years 3-6 is coming up next Wednesday on the 6th of June. Please ensure that your student has their hat, water bottle and lunch for the day. 

The students will be transported to and from the event via bus. The bus departs at 9am. 

Please see the below schedule for the day. 

ICAS Assessments for Advanced Learners

Each year, at Brisbane Central State School, we offer parents the opportunity for their child/children to sit the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) tests. ICAS is an online academic competition that gives students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills.  Every student who participates is celebrated and recognised with a printed certificate and an online report of results. Top performers are eligible for one of the highly coveted ICAS medals. 

To learn more about this year’s ICAS competition, visit: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/). 

In addition, this video demonstrates the testing platform.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DMCtlAjQHs  

Parents register their children for ICAS and make payment using the online UNSW Global Parent Payment System.  ICAS registrations are open for use by Brisbane Central State School parents and is open until Monday 14 July 2025.  Registrations for the tests will not be possible after this date. 

BCSS parent payment system is currently active.  You can register in one of two ways:

1. Direct login link – faster!

Use this link to log directly into the shop and start registering:

Brisbane Central page link is:  https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/parent-payment/RHV663

1. Log in using the PPS code

Visit our shop and use our PPS code to log in:

Shop link: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Brisbane Central school access code is: RHV663

How to participate in ICAS 

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year: 

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (com/products-icas/)
2. Read the Privacy Collection Statement below.
3. Read the terms and conditions here: (com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-ICAS-Assessments-Schools-TsCs_S2023.V6-1.pdf) 
4. Go to Parent Portal to purchase chosen tests - see above.
5. Enter your child’s details, select the subject area tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment.
6. After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email. Please keep this for your records. 

Please note that the ICAS tests shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.  Brisbane Central State School is offering the English, Mathematics, Writing and Science assessments.   Writing is only provided by ICAS from Year 3, while the other subject areas are available from Years 2 to Year 6.   We will notify parents of the dates that Brisbane Central will run the different ICAS tests after the close of bookings. 

Your child’s ICAS certificates will be delivered to the school about 4 weeks after the close of the assessment period Once we have received your child’s ICAS certificate, we will send it home with your child. The back of the certificate shows ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”.  Use these login details from previous years or from certificates this year to access the Results Portal. 

https://orti.icasassessments.com/ortiStudent 

Please note, we cannot facilitate refunds or make alterations as all money is paid directly to ICAS Assessments.

Read the terms and conditions here: (https://www.icasassessments.com/icasa-terms-and-conditions/#icas-parents). 

Privacy collection statement  
The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.

ICAS Assessment is owned by Janison Solutions Pty Ltd (We, Us, Our).

To deliver assessment products, Janison will require your child’s School to obtain your consent to provide Janison with certain personal information of students. Janison will collect, store, use, disclose and otherwise deal with such personal information in accordance with its privacy policy (below). We are aware of our responsibility to protect personal information related to children and students from being disclosed when we deliver an ICAS Assessments product. Unless you, as the child’s legal guardian consents, we will not:

• collect any personal information or data of children other than the information we need for the successful completion of an assessment, test, or exam.
• transfer any personal information we obtain from a child in the delivery of assessments and tests to any jurisdiction outside of Australia.
• share any personal information relating to children with any third parties (except for those third parties necessary for us to carry out our Services or provide our Products e.g., medal engraving).
• use any personal information or data relating to children for marketing purposes.

You can view our full privacy policy at https://www.janison.com/privacy-policy/.

We may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com or by contacting icasassessments@janison.com.

We are proud to be offering ICAS to our students this year and encourage you to consider entering your child. Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions.  

Please do not hesitate to contact the school via Maureen Kelly, mkell83@eq.edu.au, if you have any questions. 

Debating News 2025

On Monday, auditions were held for Year 5 and Year 6 students.

The speeches prepared were of a high standard and we would like to congratulate the following students:

There were 8 successful year 6 debaters. This means, there will be 2 Year 6 debating teams.

There will be one Year 5 debating team.

Year 6 debaters:

Albert, Hanvitha, Aditi, Aura, Harsha, Aastha, Shreehan, Nasanbayar

Year 5 debaters:

Elana, Jas, Tanvi, Sarah, Chetan, Chidvilas

The teams will be announced at a later date. The Year 6 debating coaches are Ms Culverhouse, Ms Everingham and Mr McKee. The Year 5 coach is Mrs Kelly.

All coaches would like to extend their thanks to the debaters who auditioned.

Stay tuned for more information to be sent home to parents of our  2025 debaters!

Book Club

There are two issues of Book Club each term. 

Scholastic bulk delivers the books to school after their issue closing date. Sometimes your child’s book will not arrive in the bulk delivery because it is on back order. It will arrive. When the books arrive at school, they will be handed to your child to take home. 

BOOK CLUB ISSUE 4 CLOSES 13TH OF JUNE

Interschool Chess Competition

Free Walk-In Clinic

Brisbane State High

Mustachery on Brunswick - $45 Student Cuts

Rose Soiree