REPORT CARDS

On Thursday 26 June, all students will receive their report cards after 3pm, via email or on Q Parents app.

The scale on scoring a child’s academic achievement can never tell the whole story. It cannot show the growth in a child’s character, their resilience, grit, determination, and ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively in a group, to show empathy, how they build relationships and simply just be a really good human being. However, it is important to understand how the scoring works.

When you look at the scale for Prep to Year 2, please understand these are as follows-

Applying

Making Connections

Working with

Exploring

Becoming Aware

• Working well above year level expectations
• Working above year level expectations
• Working at year level expectations
• Working below year level expectations
• Working well below year level expectations

Therefore, being at a ‘C’ level or ‘sound’ is actually stating that a student is achieving what they need to for that year level. It does not indicate they are struggling with the work. Throughout the year the teachers undertake moderation within the school and across our city cluster of some 17 other schools. This is undertaken to provide consistency with the results that are given to students.

If a child is achieving above a ‘c or sound ‘level, then that is wonderful, however it is more about their application and determination that speaks highly of them as a person. We are seeing far too many students who are ‘burning out’ or suffering from mental health conditions due to undue pressure to perform consistently at a higher standard than they may well be capable of at that time.

Our Educative Purpose as a school is all about students being in the ‘leaning zone’, which focusses on them just being challenged enough but not so much that they cannot achieve any success and then just give up.

What I want to make really clear is that the comments in English, Mathematics, Behaviour and General, tell the greatest story about your child’s achievement over semester one. Feedback is so very important to the growth and improvement of a child or indeed an adult at any age, if they are a willing and open lifelong learner. Done correctly and with the right intent, it is the greatest gift you can give someone to help with self-improvement.

I am not saying that having high expectations isn’t a good thing. We consistently work towards this as a school. However, there is a difference between achievement and effort. We want our students to have a deep love of learning and to want to be at school for this reason. With 13 years of schooling and potentially more if they attend university or undertake further formal study, a balanced and measured approach is really important.

Importantly, share the comments with your child as the report cards are written to them, with the intent that they will understand what they have done well and what they can focus on next to enhance their learning.

Q PARENTS

Just a reminder that using Q Parents is such an easy way to do so many school related activities such as-

• Most class excursion/camp permission forms
• Attendance and absence details, as well as the ability to notify the school of an absence
• Behaviour information
• Academic report cards
• Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online
• Viewing and updating personal student details, including medical conditions and address
• Enrolment details
• Upcoming events list showing school events, exam and assessment dates, and excursions.

QParents will assist both staff and parents in sharing and responding to information in an efficient and effective way.

It won’t replace the traditional ways you communicate with our school, but it will provide another way to communicate with us!

Please see attached the quick guide for how to set it up.

QParents registration quick reference guide

QParents registration quick reference guide 2.76 MB

BOOK PRIZES- TERM 2

At the end of each term, one student per class is nominated to receive a reading book prize, which are kindly donated by parents Rhiannon and Thomas Coussens from Place Real Estate.

A very big thankyou for these donations for what is a really great initiative.

The recipient might be chosen for an number of reasons- improved reading, always putting in a great effort with reading, a love of reading etc.

Below are the students who have received the book prize from each class for this term.

A big congratulations to all.

PLAYGROUND BEHAVIOUR INCIDENTS

From time to time, it is not unusual for student behaviour incidents to occur in the school playground before school or during break times. It is often when learning about how to get along and respond appropriately to conflict/ competitiveness will take place. Very occasionally the incident escalates and requires significant intervention.

Please note that whilst most issues can be dealt with easily by the staff member on duty, if the incident is more serious in nature, then one of the leadership team will become involved. It is not the role of the class teacher to deal with such playground incidents and therefore it is likely that if a consequence for poor behaviour needs to be put in place, this will be actioned by one of the Deputy Principals or the Principal.  

The consequence could be that the student/s spend time during their breaks with one of the leadership team. Usually this is time for a chat, reflection and often an opportunity for some restorative justice where the students who were involved come together with the DP or Principal to try and resolve the issue in a calm and safe place.

It is only if the incident is of such a serious or repetitive nature that a student may be suspended from school for a period of time, which is not a decision taken lightly.

So, if your child does find themselves in such a situation, please note that we are working towards the goal of restoring the relationship between the students involved and doing so with the Deputy Principal or Principal is part of this process.

It would also be part of our process if a serious incident were to occur during class time, which required intervention from the leadership team.

Kind regards,
Paul Zernike
Principal
pzern1@eq.edu.au

ICAS 2025 UPDATE

The following ICAS competitions are on offer:

·         Writing - 4th Aug  

·         English - 11^th Aug

·         Science - 18^th Aug

·         Spelling Bee - 22^nd Aug

·         Mathematics - 27^th Aug

Important Messages:

• The competitions are held before school in A block – Year 6 classrooms.
• Arrival to school is 7:40 sharp.
• Do not arrive early at the classroom or wait earlier in the hallways.
• If you miss a competition they are not made up, you can contact ICAS for a refund.
• Students require their iPads, fully charged
• Writing and Spelling Bee require a lock down browser – see link to install https://www.icasassessments.com/support-locked-down-browser/

Parent Payment System

What is the Parent Payment System? 

The Parent Payment System is a way for parents to purchase ICAS directly from ICAS, rather than schools taking payment. It works in the following way:

Parents log in using the following code, select the ICAS subjects you want, and pay ICAS directly.

NB: there will be a strict enrolment cut-off date SUNDAY July 20^th (end of Term 3 week 1) due to organisation and planning. No exceptions.

ICAS test dates

Parent Code:   WCV353

Parent Page Link:  https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/parent-payment/WCV353

Featuring YEAR 4

In our latest writing unit, students have been hard at work crafting detailed explanation texts about their imaginative "cracking contraptions." Alongside this in Term 1, they’ve also been sharing their thoughts and opinions on their favourite poems, developing both their speaking and listen skills.

In term 1, Year 4 analysed poetry. As part of those studies, students had an opportunity to create some of their own. This is an incredibly touching piece written by one of our very talented year 4 students. This is followed by the explanation texts.

Mother

Your arms were always open

When I needed a hug

Your heart understood

When I needed a friend

Your gentle eyes were stern

When I needed a lesson

Your love and strength has guided

And gave me wings to fly

You were everything to me

But now you are free

Your hard work everyday inspired me

And set an example

From hugs to a coffee mug

I couldn’t thank you more…

        By MG   4L

THE ACCOLADE WINNING, JUICE MAKER 2000 (or A.W.J.M. 2000)

by Maryam 4ML

Wallace is a smart but lazy man who is even lazier in the hot summer sun. When he tries to squeeze orange juice in the boiling heat, it gets squirted in poor gromit's eye. As a result, Wallace invented the A.W.J.M. 2000. This amazing contraption will help Wallace with his need of cold, refreshing, orange juice in the hot weather. The A.W.J M. 2000 is designed for people like Wallace to relax with a cup of refreshing juice. This contraption has weird objects to help wallace with his every day needs. It includes catapulting sugar, a super bouncy trampoline, a flying lid and straw, and a trusty orange squeezer. All of these random items are compulsory for the A.W.J.M. 2000. This cunning contraption consists of a series of wonderful stages that are carefully sequenced and amazingly accurate.

Firstly, hardworking Gromit squeezes the fresh oranges on a reliable orange squeezer and pours quickly down a plastic, blue funnel. Next, the juice pours quickly into a transparent plastic cup balanced carefully on a see-saw. Consequently, the blue-stained cup is now heavier than the ball on the other side and using gravity, it gradually starts going down. After that, the mini catapult, loaded with sugar, is pushed down by the see-saw and the tablespoon of sugar is catapulted in the air and lands in the cup. When that phase happens, useful Gromit the see-saw with his right hand and the sharp ended see-saw cuts the sky blue string tied to a lid and straw. The cup and straw falls and bounces on the trampoline with such force it flies back up, the lid closes securely on the cup, and makes it fall on the highly bouncy trampoline. Finally, the cup flies in the air and using gravity, it lands on the table next to the stripy red and yellow chair.

All these stages prove the A.W.J.M. 2000 to be one-of-a-kind. The A.W.J.M. 2000 is a much needed contraption to help people like Wallace with their every day tasks. Due to the series of stages, it helps save lives from the hot sun by making fresh orange juice for them. This outstanding contraption is a life saver for Wallace.

The Washing-up Train 3000

By Henry 4S

Wallace is a wise but lazy man so he had to improvise. This extremely high tech, well designed contraption is the perfect machine for Wallace. The amazing machine cleans, wraps and seals

dishes in boxes and transparent bubble wrap packaging to make them feel brand new. Its name… The Washing-up Train 3000!

This limited-edition machine includes a supersonic conveyor belt, run by an electric motor.

It also includes a high tech infrared scanner, fully automated twin robotic arms, a full miniature car wash, a separate track and boxing and wrapping station, and a hard steel frying pan and spring, a flipper and sticker gun.

Wallace pushes his filthy plate onto a supersonic conveyor belt which carries his plate and silver cutlery through a supercharged infrared scanner which scans what type of dish it is. Next, the dishes are positioned by two twin mechanical arms to go through the miniature car wash. Once clean, the plates are sorted onto a different track to be wrapped in bubble wrap and gently placed in boxes. Finally, the boxed plates rejoin the other track to be flipped into an open drawer by a steel frying pan and spring while having a sticker shot on it.

In conclusion, The Washing-up Train 3000 is a much needed high-tech contraption that makes your daily life a little bit easier. It uses high tech but simple mechanical mechanisms to get the job done faster and easier.

THE FOOD MAKER and WASHER 2000

By Cecilia   4S

Wallace is an exceedingly lazy man who finds it insufferable to get out of his big comfortable chair to get food. The Food Maker and Washer 2000 was invented so Wallace does not have to get out of his chair. The food gets delivered to him and the plates get cleaned efficiently without Wallace having to do a thing.

This amazing state-of-the-art contraption helps lazy people like Wallace to easily use this if they want food, but don’t want to get out of their chair. Its features include black conveyer belts, a cooking place with shiny robotic arms with a sponge, a burning place and a freezing place, buttons with sensors with clean water, and finally drones which have four high tech arms.

This cunning contraption consists of different series of stages to make it work.

Firstly, Wallace presses a button that is connected to his chair to select what amazing food he wants. Then, that triggers a leaver so both machines have a different speed conveyer belt. Therefore, they both go into a station. The food maker goes into a cooking station, and the dish washer goes into another station with a robotic arm with a big sponge in its hand. They then go onto a slower conveyer belt. After that, they both go into they last station. The Food Maker either goes into the burning hot place or the freezing cold place, depending on the food. The dish washer goes into a station with sensors with clean water that washes off all the bubbles off the plate. They both go onto their last conveyer belt. Then, the plate is sparkly clean and the Food Maker despises delicious food that is ready to eat. Lastly, high tech drone with four arms grabs the food and gives it to Wallace. Once Wallace is done, the other drone picks up the plate and puts it in the Washer before returning into the kitchen cupboard.

In conclusion, the Food Maker and Washer 2000 is a needed contraction for people like Wallace. It uses all the high tech features so everything is ready for Wallace to have his meals and his dishes cleaned all without needing to get up from his comfortable chair.

Kind Regards 
Anita Heinrich
Deputy Principal
ahein8@eq.edu.au 

Dear Families,

POSITIVE PARENTING – free online quality courses.

Triple P – an online positive parenting program has expanded its courses to suit various needs and ages…. The courses are now free and have become internationally renowned for their quality. By following this link you will be able to select which course best suits you and your family’s needs.

You can support your child’s development, grow closer and solve problems – positively. There are many simple strategies you can start using right now, to make every moment count!

• Boost their emotional wellbeing and maintain a good relationship – now, and in the years to come.
• Make family life less stressful and more enjoyable – even in tough times.
• Set good habits early and prevent problems from getting worse with practical strategies you can start using straight away.
• Join more than a million Australian families who’ve been helped by the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program!
• Backed by 35+ years of research studies here and around the world.

https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/qld-en/triple-p/#plt-section

P-2 TRUE PARENT & CARER SESSION  DATE CLAIMER -  Term 3 Wk 1 15^th of July @ 5 pm

Children begin learning about relationships and sexuality early on from their family and caregivers. This learning helps children to develop a healthy sense of themselves and the world around them. 

Children and young people who have accurate and clear information about bodies, relationships and sexuality are more likely to:

• Feel positive about themselves and their bodies
• Be less vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation
• Understand appropriate and inappropriate behaviour

True’s Parent and Carers Information Sessions help you support the young people in your life and grow your confidence in discussions with the children in your care.

DON’T FOCUS ON HAPPINESS, HELP BUILD RESILIENCE INSTEAD

https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/parents-dont-focus-on-happiness/

Loved this article from Neuropsych & hopefully it resonates with some of you… follow the link to read in detail.

KEY Takeaways INCLUDE:-

• Because parents want what is best for their children, they often put too much focus on their happiness.  
• But happiness emerges from resilience, which helps children regulate difficult emotions and stressful situations. 
• Resilience is not a fixed trait. It’s a skill parents can help children develop.

Thank you, 
Kylie Dunne
Deputy Principal
kdunn34@eq.edu.au

Milton SS Athletics & Sports Days

What an awesome few weeks we had for our Athletics Sports Days. Well done to all our students for their efforts, doing their best and for their sportsmanship with one another at the Athletics carnivals and Sports Days. It was such a pleasure to run the carnivals for our students, in glorious sunshine (for once I didn’t have to worry about the forecast!), and have such tremendous support from our parents & families in the community. The joy and excitement, the sheer effort written across their faces, the cheering & genuine happiness for fellow competitors was just wonderful.

Massive thanks to all the teachers and staff, the house captains and year 6 leaders, and parents, who helped set up, run the events so smoothly and pack up over the 3 days. Big thanks to Greg for his work in prepping our grounds and setting up on the days too. Go team Milton SS!

Competing for their houses, and in their age groups, the years 3 – 6 students competed in field events including 800m, high jump, shot put, tug of war and 200m heats on Monday and on Tuesday took part in the track heats and finals in 100m, 200m and further 800m races, along with ball games, novelty relays and year level shuttle relays.

Our students in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 competed in 50m/80m sprints and tabloid sports, tug of war and ball games.

What a thrill it was to see how much fun they had.

And now, to the records & results………

8 NEW Records

GIRLS

10yrs HIGH JUMP

Madison S 1.16m

(Kristi C-G/Pip D 1.15m - 2006 / 2016)

10yrs 100m

Isobel S 15.33

(Chloe H-L 15.44 - 2023)

10 yrs 200m

Isobel S 33.21

(Edwina S 33.42 - 2024)

10 yrs 800m

Isobel S 2:48.28

(Edwina S 2:51.27 - 2024)

11yrs 800m

Edwina S 2:41.97

(Emily G 2:43.60 - 2024)

12yrs 800m

Emily G 2:34.09

(Tara-Jade G 2:42.18 - 2014)

BOYS

9yrs Shot Put

Elias M 9.34m

(Thomas W 8.68m – 2016)

9yrs 800m

Hugh F 2:42.06

(Louis C 2:45.78 – 2023)

Age Champions

Yr. 1 Sprint Winners

Girl – Scarlett G (Turnbull)

Boy – Hugo H (Turnbull)

Yr. 2 Sprint Winners

Girl – Poppy T (Anderson)

Boy – Jariah T (Turnbull)

8 years

Girl – Edwina G (Laver)

Boy – Emmett C (Laver)

9 years

Girl  - Lucinda V (Laver)

Boy – Elias M (Anderson)

10 years

Girl – Isobel S (Anderson)

Boy – Hugo T (Laver)

11 years

Girl – Edwina S (Turnbull)

Boy – Jack C (Laver)

12 years

Girl – Audrey L (Laver)

Boy – Bailey D (Anderson)

Prep Tabloid Trophy

Winner Anderson 404 points

2^nd Laver 380 points

3^rd Turnbull 348 pts

Overall Ball Games (Year 1 – 6)

Winner Laver 244 points

2^nd Turnbull  238 points

3^rd– Anderson 190 points

HOUSE CHAMPIONS 2025

1^st Anderson 1769 points

2^nd Laver 1663 points

3^rd Turnbull 1441 points

Our Milton SS Athletics team will now represent the school and compete in the A division competition at the City District Track & Field Championships upcoming on Thursday 24th July and Friday 25th July at Bowden Park, Geebung in term three.

This team will be made up of the students who finished in the top 3 in the 9yo – 12yo Track events of 100m, *200m, 800m and *1500m (*10-12yo only) plus 4x100m teams will be made in the 10-12yo age groups as well (1st - 4th).

Students who finished 1st in the Field events of 9yo-12yo Shot Put, 10yo-12yo High Jump and for those who win the Long Jump 9yo-12yo trials in term three will also make the team. The Long Jump trials will occur on Friday 18th July at Jack Cook Park.

Congratulations to those have made the team and will make up our Milton SS Track & Field team. I will meet with all of the students who have successfully qualified for the team next week to hand out permission letters, city district information packs, order of events and further information required.

Queensland School Sport 12 GIRLS AFL Championships

Congratulations to Elsie J and Edwina S of Year 6 who recently won a Bronze medal at the Queensland School Sport AFL 12 Girls Championships in Maroochydore. The girls played as strong members of their Met North team losing only two games across the entire carnival and walking away with a 3rd medal for theirs and their teams’ efforts. What an experience! Congratulations Edwina and Elsie, you should be more than proud of the journey with AFL you’ve been on for 2025. From the district team, all the way through to the highest level in Queensland School Sport. A very memorable experience! From the entire Milton SS community, well done!

Met North 12 Girls Touch Football

What a run this budding sports star is having. Edwina S, a week after competing at the AFL championships headed off to the Met North 12 Girls Touch Championships with her City District School Sport team. Playing mainly in link and on the wing, Edwina shined once again and has also been selected into the Met North 12 Girls Touch team. The achievements just keep rolling! Now off to Roma for the Queensland School Sport 12 Girls Touch Championships, is there anything this talented youngster can’t do at present. Huge congratulations Edwina, enjoy the experience again, put your best foot forward and be proud of your effort. Go Eddie go!

Thank you
Lachlan Sayer
HPE Teacher 
lsaye12@eq.edu.au

Young Artists Shine at the Year 3 & 5 Art Show!

The Art Room was transformed into a vibrant gallery this week as students from Years 3 and 5 proudly displayed their artwork in our much-anticipated art show.

The Year 3 students experimented with a variety of materials as they explored how the elements of art can communicate meaning in artworks. They viewed the work of national and international artists and used their pieces as inspiration for their own collection of 2D and 3D artworks.

Year 5 experimented with materials and techniques to guide their understanding of the elements of visual art and design. They developed their critical skills by observing, reflecting on and responding to the artworks of a variety of artists from differing cultural backgrounds.

Thank you to all the families who came to support – and to our budding artists: keep creating!

Thank you,
Shannon Ravenscroft
Year 2 Teacher/Visual Arts Teacher

scrav0@eq.edu.au

Last Wednesday, 11 of our students attended the North Brisbane Chess Competition at Windsor State School. Our students competed magnificently with one of teams placing third overall (Ashton, Cooper, Zoe and Itgel).  Itgel also received a merit ribbon. 

Don’t forget, Chess Club runs every Friday morning before school. Everyone welcome!

Thank you, 
Kate West
Year 3 teacher/Chess co-ordinator

kwest40@eq.edu.au

Next P&C meeting - Tuesday 15 July, 7pm

All welcome! The meeting will be held in The Hive (library) and also online via Teams, with a link to be sent out closer to the date.

P&C meetings are a great opportunity to keep up to date with happenings and be part of conversation that shapes fundraising and initiatives for our children.

As an association, we must hold meetings as part of the constitution and whilst there are parts that are formal, we also have lots of casual but very productive discussions about what’s happening behind the scenes at the school, fundraising initiatives and ways to continue to foster an an amazing school community. 

AND bonus, we provide beer, wine & snacks! We would love to see some more MSS community faces in attendance! 

Class co-ordinators - thank you!

A mid-year shoutout to our representatives from each class that help the P&C, by distributing messages we provide to them on a regular basis. We appreciate you and your input to keep everyone up to date!

Angelo’s Pasta Drive - thank you!

A huge thanks to everyone who ordered and filled up their pantry & freezer with delicious, Brisbane made goods.

The overall profit to P&C was $1300, very similar to 2024 results!

Thank you to Julie Rowlinson & Leah Beadman for organising and running this initiative.

Mad Mia sock drive - thank you!

We sold hundreds of socks, hooray! Partnering with the Student Council and aligning the drive to crazy sock day was a big success, enabling P&C fundraising together with support for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, a win-win!

We had fun packing socks in the uniform shop after the Qkr sales period, and also selling in person at the Junior Learning Centre last week. Thank you to those that helped man the sales at the in person sales and those that purchased!

Financial results will be shared in Term 3 after they have been finalised.

A big thank you to Ivana Lowrey for the mammoth effort in running these sales daily and also to Julie Rowlinson & Leah Beadman for organising and running this initiative.

Trivia night - 2 August, now on sale!

Buy your tickets at 

https://events.humanitix.com/mss-trivia-2025

Fair on the Green - October 18

If it’s not already in your calendar, save the date!

Sponsorships are selling fast - if you know of a business who may be interested please reach out to faironthegreen@gmail.com

Containers for Change

Thanks to everyone who brought some containers in on Tuesday 10 June. We have entered the competition to win $10k - fingers crossed!

A reminder that at anytime, you can collect containers at home and contribute towards the P&C account - the member number is C11484072

Have a great holiday break, see you in Term 3.

Thanks for your support, 
P&C Executive Committee

Thomas, Leah, Emma, Sarah & Ian
pandc@miltonss.eq.edu.au

The Uniform Shop is open each Tuesday & Friday morning, 8.30am – 9.30am during school terms.

If you can’t make it into the store, new items can be ordered online Via the Qkr App.

Your order is then delivered directly to your Child’s classroom, no pickup is required.

Pre-loved items cannot be ordered online, please visit the store to see what’s

currently available.

Donations of Pre-Loved MSS Uniforms are always appreciated. Feel free to drop them directly to us 

Thank you,
Julie Rowlinson
Uniform Shop Convenor
Uniforms@miltonss.eq.edu.au

Please join us after school to construct paper flower lanterns that will be used to decorate the stage for this year's Milton State School Fair on the Green. The workshop includes two sessions total, held over consecutive Friday afternoons from 3-4:30pm in the C Block Mezzanine, the area at the top of the amphitheater in the Junior Learning Centre. Paper lanterns will be returned to all participants classrooms the week following the Fair.

Workshop Dates (must attend both days):
Friday 15 August 3-4:30pm, C-block Mezzanine, Milton State School
Friday 22 August 3-4:30pm, C-block Mezzanine, Milton State School

This workshop is suitable for all primary school age children, with modifications for younger and older students.  These sessions are limited to 10 students.

All proceeds (less consumables) will go towards the Grade 6 Graduation Fund.

Sessions will be run by Milton mum, Carrie Radzevicius, who operates after school art classes out of her home in Bardon.

For more information and to book in please visit https://www.carrieradzevicius.com/store/p1/paperflowersMSS.html.