Week 1 Term 1 2025 School Information

From the Leadership Team

We are delighted to welcome everyone back to Amberley District State School for another exciting year of learning and growth! A special welcome to our new students and families—we are thrilled to have you join our wonderful school community.

Our students have had a fantastic first week, settling into their new classes, reconnecting with friends, and embracing new learning opportunities. The enthusiasm and positive energy across the school have been inspiring, and we are incredibly proud of how well they have started the year.

Supporting Your Child’s Success

This edition of our newsletter contains key information to help support your child in having a successful and rewarding year. Inside, you’ll find details on:
✅ Important dates
✅ Classroom routines
✅ Wellbeing strategies
✅ Ways to engage in school life

We value strong partnerships between home and school and look forward to working with you to ensure the best possible learning experience for every child.

Our School Vision, Values & Expectations

Attached below is a copy of our updated school expectations, along with our school vision and values. These reflect our ongoing commitment to fostering a safe, supportive, and engaging learning environment where every student feels a strong sense of belonging and is encouraged to strive for their personal best.
We want every student to meet our expectations of being a safe, respectful, and friendly learner every day, ensuring a positive and inclusive school experience for all.

Our 2025 School Priorities

This year, our focus is on three key improvement areas, aligned with our 2024-2028 School Strategic Plan (available on our website):

1️⃣ Pedagogy – Engaging students through a range of evidence-based teaching practices to lift student performance. (Pedagogy = methods and approaches to teaching.)
2️⃣ Teamwork – Strengthening collaboration among teaching teams to support the needs of all students.
3️⃣ Inclusion – Reviewing and refining our inclusive practices to ensure every student can thrive academically and socially.

Enhancing Student Engagement

To support student engagement across all year levels, we will be embedding our whole-school student engagement scale. Students will be explicitly taught what it means to be engaged in learning across all subjects.

We are also excited to introduce Flashtastic Friday, a new initiative designed to empower students to take charge of their learning. More details can be found later in the newsletter.

Just a friendly reminder that the staff carpark is not for parent parking.  Parents please park in the parent car park only.

Stay Connected

Please take the time to read through the information provided, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Together, we can make 2025 a fantastic year for our students!  Also our school  website and parent handbook are treasure troves of information for you to learn more about the school!

Kind regards,

Kelli Harvey, Barb Christie and Leisa Cave.

Leadership Team

Barb Christie - Deputy Principal, Kelli Harvey - Principal,  Leisa Cave - Deputy Principal

School Information

Wellbeing and Engagement Updates

This year, we introduced a new Wellbeing and Engagement program that includes an updated Student Code of Conduct and the explicit teaching of the whole-school social and emotional learning program, PAUSE. These programs are aligned with the Australian Curriculum general capabilities and aim to foster greater student engagement in learning and improved wellbeing. The updates were developed in consultation with staff and the school community and informed by current best-practice research.

Our Student Code of Conduct can be found on the school website.  Parents are encouraged to read through it.

The Parent Handbook about the Pause Program can be found here.  A video below helps to explain about the program.  We will share information each week about the lessons and our school expectations each week so you can discuss these with your children at home.

This year, we have replaced our High 5 process with the Problem-Solving Wheel, which students will learn to use when managing different challenges. The wheel is included below, and you may find it helpful to use at home as well.

What's on Next Week

Monday: School Choir first break - all welcome

Tuesday: Soaring Learning

Wednesday: School Choir first break - all welcome.  Band second break

Thursday: Little Jets Playgroup 9am @ Base

Friday: Flashtastic Friday - School Leader Badge Presentation, assembly and fun time afternoon

Curriculum Corner

Student Services

Supporting Every Student at Amberley District State School

At Amberley District State School, we are committed to ensuring that every student feels supported, included, and able to thrive in all aspects of school life. Our dedicated Student Services Team works collaboratively to provide a range of support tailored to the individual needs of our students.

Our 2025 Student Services Team

• Head of Student Services: Alan O'Neill
• Guidance Officer: Selena Box
• School Psychologist: Jennifer Malcolm
• Speech-Language Therapist: Miranda Yau

This team works closely with our Learning Leaders, teacher aides, and classroom teachers to provide in-class and playground support, fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students.

If your child has additional needs, you have updated information to share, or you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Student Services Team at supportservices@amberleydistrictss.eq.edu.au. We are here to support you and your child on their learning journey.

Learning Enrichment

The Amberley District State School Enrichment Program supports students' academic, social, and personal growth through diverse extracurricular activities aligned with Queensland Department of Education policies. Each activity promotes the school’s Learning Assets—Courageous, Inquirers, Thinkers, Communicators, Collaborators, and Self-Managers—and encourages students to apply these in real-world contexts. Participation is inclusive, with withdrawal at the discretion of the Principal or Deputy Principal based on individual student needs.

Save the Date

19 February – Skate Night

28 February – EcoMarines: Clean Up the School Day

21 March – Harmony Day (Wear orange)

24 March – Student Leaders Halogen Excursion

25 March – Parent-Teacher Conversations

1 April - 3 - 6 Cross Country

3 April – Colour Run

4 April – Easter Dress-Up Day & Celebration of Learning
Open Classrooms: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

2025 Teaching Team

We have a great staff team again this year at ADSS.  Our year level teams are below.

Prep

Prep A: Racheal Zygmunt
Prep B: Debbie Coombs
Prep C: Fiona Harris
Prep D: Tarissa Flesser
Prep Learning Leader: Cassie Whitley

Year 1

1A: Sarah Jones
1B: Jacqueline Henry
1C: Karla Nuffer
1D: Kristi Paschke (Mon-Thurs) / Courtney Simpson (Fri)
Year 1 Learning Leader: Nikki Smith

Year 2

2A: Tasmin Gough
2B: Mykayla Scotney
2C: Stephanie Powell
2D: Chloe Eveans
Year 2 Learning Leader: Larissa Madden

Year 3

3A: Narelle Ziebarth
3B: Kayleigh Miller
3C: Eujenia Otuszewski
3D: Jamie-Lee Bromby
Year 3 Learning Leader: Larissa Madden

Year 4

4A: Bronte Kubler
4B: Leila Balfe
4C: Sarah Morton
Year 4 Learning Leader: Rick Conway

Year 5

5A: Trudie Pickering
5B: Sally Avern
5C: Isabelle Wright
5D: Ian Molloy
Year 5 Learning Leader: Karen Amedee

Year 6

6A: Michael Springall
6B: Jo Elms
6C: Ashley Cooper
6D: Christine McMillan
Year 6 Learning Leader: Karen Amedee

Specialist Teachers

LOTE – French: Abdirizak Sid Ahmed
Physical Education (PE): Ange Wilson
STEM: Andrea Hensman (Mon-Thurs)
Music/Arts: Tim Searle
Instrumental Music: Julie Lewis (Wed, Fri morning)
Instrumental Strings: Danni Basso (Mon afternoon, Tues)

Teaching Staff

Flashtastic Friday

Flashtastic Fridays at Amberley District State School

This year, we have adapted our rewards and awards programs to further promote student engagement and celebrate those who are dedicated to their learning.

Flashtastic Friday Assembly

Every Friday, we celebrate our hard work throughout the week and recognise students who follow our school-wide expectations.

📍 Time & Location: 8:55 am at the stage
🎤 Hosted by: Our school leaders

Each week, the following awards are presented:

• Learner of the Week – One student per class who has best demonstrated our school learning assets.
• Soaring Citizen of the Week – One student per class who has best demonstrated our school expectations.
• Good Egg Attendance Awards – Awarded to the junior and senior classes with the highest attendance for the week.
• House ACE Ticket Draw – A student draw for those who have demonstrated ACE behaviour outside the classroom.

📢 Parent Notification: If your child is receiving a Learner of the Week or Soaring Citizen award, you will receive communication from their teacher.

Flashtastic Friday Fun Afternoon

⏰ Time: 1:50 pm – 2:40 pm

Students who have followed our school-wide expectations throughout the week will participate in Flashtastic Friday Fun Afternoon, where they will grow their learning assets through high-interest activities.

✅ Tracking Engagement: You can monitor your child’s engagement in their school diary. Below, we outline what Good, Great, and Soaring Engagement looks like, so you can support your child at home.

⚠️ Refocus Lesson:

• Students who receive three referral behaviours in a week will attend a refocus lesson.
• During this session, they will create a plan to improve their behaviour and engagement for the following week, ensuring they can rejoin the fun activities.

👋 Want to Volunteer?
If you would like to help with Flashtastic Friday Fun Afternoon, please see your child's teacher!

End-of-Term Celebrations of Learning

📅 When? Last day of each term, from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
🏫 Where? Open Classrooms

Parents and carers are invited to visit their child's classroom to celebrate their learning and view their work from the term. We look forward to seeing you there!

Finance News

Get Involved at Our School - Volunteer opportunities

We love having family volunteers at our school, and there will be many opportunities throughout the year for parents and caregivers to get involved. Volunteering is a great way to support your child’s education, connect with other families, and contribute to our wonderful school community.

Here are some ways you can help:

✅ Classroom Support – Assist with home reading by changing home readers.
✅ Library Help – Support our library by shelving books and assisting with displays.
✅ Breakfast Club & Tuckshop – Volunteer your time to help serve our students.
✅ Event Support – Help set up and pack down on special event days.
✅ Week 6 Parent Representatives – Join our team to support key school initiatives.
✅ P&C Association – Be part of our school’s decision-making and fundraising efforts.
✅ Sports Coaching – Help coach one of our interschool sports teams.
✅ Flashtastic Friday Activities – Assist in running fun activities for students.

If you’d like to get involved or learn more about volunteering, please reach out to the school office or your child's teacher. We look forward to working together to make this a fantastic year!

Gumbuya Garden

This year, we are excited to establish a school community garden, the Gumbuya Garden, located between the Year 2 and Year 5 classrooms. Our goal is to get planting soon so that students can actively learn about gardening and food production.

Maintaining a garden is a big task, and we would love the support of volunteers to work alongside our students in bringing this project to life.

We are also seeking donations of the following items to help get us started:

• Herbs
• Citrus trees
• Bags of soil
• Sugar cane mulch
• Weed matting

If you’re able to contribute, we would greatly appreciate any donations by next week.

If you are interested in being part of this wonderful initiative or can assist with donations, please contact the Principal at principal@amberleydistrictss.eq.edu.au.

Soaring Celebrations

My New Gallery