Friday Flash Term 3, Week 1 - 18th July, 2025
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome back! 🎉
It’s been a joyful start to the term, and I know many of our students were especially excited to see the school improvements completed over the holidays. A highlight for our Year 3s was the installation of the new 🗺️ maps!
Construction for the oval upgrade recommences on Monday, with completion (weather permitting) scheduled for 11 August 🏃♀️🌱. This is very exciting for our students! We kindly ask families to be patient with the back gate closure during this time and to please only park in designated carparks 🚗🚫. Parking outside these areas can delay work and pose safety risks for our students.
📚 Reading Focus This Term
This term, our key academic focus is reading. We encourage every child to reinforce their learning at home with 20 minutes of nightly reading 📖💤.
Younger students will receive home readers.
More independent readers will have greater choice in what they read, as they shift from being novice to expert readers who read for enjoyment.
Don’t forget students also have access to:
🐣 Reading Eggs
🌱 Mathseeds
💻 Maths Online
Daily independent homework helps children build responsibility, become self-managers 💪, and prepares them for high school.
🌟 Flashtastic Fridays & Behaviour Expectations
We’re now six months into embedding our upgraded Student Code of Conduct (available in Forms and Documents on the school website).
As shared in our last newsletter, we’ve seen fantastic improvement in student behaviour and effort 📈👏.
Every Friday, students who follow our expectations of being Safe, Respectful, Friendly Learners take part in Flashtastic Friday 🌈. These sessions may include:
🎮 Free choice activities
🎉 Reward experiences
🏉 Interschool sport
Students with three or more behaviour referrals, or who display aggression during the week, will attend a Friday Refocus session 💬 to reflect and reset. Serious behaviours are referred to the executive team for further support.
We truly believe that great things happen for kids when schools and families work together 🤝❤️.
🗓️ Upcoming Events
We have some exciting events this term to boost student engagement! Skate Night, Book Week, Year 5 and 6 Camp and Curiosity Fair!! A favourite is coming up this Wednesday—Pyjama Day! 🛌🎈
Children are invited to wear their PJs to school, and parents in pyjamas at drop-off are absolutely welcome! 😄👘
A few tips:
Choose pyjamas that aren’t too warm ☀️
Make sure younger students can easily use the toilet 🚻
Embrace the fun—you're never too old to join in! 🎊
Thank you once again for being part of our soaring school community 🦅💛. Have a wonderful week ahead!
Warm regards,
Kelli Harvey
Principal
Wellbeing and Engagement
Next week, our schoolwide behaviour focus is:
“We are respectful when we use the PAUSE process.”
All students were explicitly taught the PAUSE process during their Health unit in Term 1. This process supports students to self-regulate, reflect, and respond respectfully in challenging situations.
For more information for parents, please follow the link below:
🔗The Pause Program
Introducing the PAUSE Program - a program that teaches your kids brain basics.
The Pause Program busts myths about how our brain and emotions work especially when it comes to talking to your kids about anger, fear, frustration and sadness. The program presents an easy way for parents to approach emotions in a way that is easy and a great way to learn together.
Created by Wendy Fox, a local teacher from Malanda for the Department of Education in Queensland, the wellbeing program teaches students and teachers about three key parts of the brain, mindfulness strategies and positive education to help them emotionally self-regulate.
Pause strategies and behaviours can be used anytime.
You can find out more about how Wendy created the Pause program and the benefits of it to younger children in the TED Talk: The Teacher I Wish I Had.
The parent handbook can be found below.
School Attendance
Our School attendance rate is currently 9o.9%. Our goal is 95%.
Students should who had soaring attendance for the term should have received a purple certificate today!
Please contact your year level Deputy Principal, if you need support with attendance at school. Unexplained absence letters are deployed twice a term. You can update attendance through the QParents app.
Congratulations Prep A and 5A for winning the highest attendance this week!
Payments Due
Save the Date
📅 Term 3 Key Dates
🛌 23 July – Pyjama Day (don’t forget your comfy PJs!)
🏃♂️🏅 24–25 July – Zones Athletics @ Limestone Park
⭐ 13 August – Year 5 Leadership Day @ ADSS
📚 14–22 August – Book Fair in the Library
🚫🗣️ 15 August – Bullying. No Way! Day
🏃♀️🏆 15–16 August – District Athletics
📖🎭 20 August – Book Week Parade (come dressed as your favourite character!)
👩🏫👨👧 26 August – Parent/Teacher Conversations
👨👧🛍️ 27-29 August – Father’s Day Stall
🏕️ 1–3 September – Year 6 Camp @ Warrawee
🏕️ 8–10 September – Year 5 Camp
🏊♂️ 8–12 September – Year 1 Swimming @ McMahon’s Swim Factory
💛 11 September – R U OK? Day
📸 15 September – Extra-curricular School Photos (in the Hall)
🏫🎉 19 September – Open Classrooms: Celebration of Learning
🌟 19 September – Last Day of Term 3
📌 Please note: Dates are subject to change. Keep an eye on school updates!
Tuckshop News
Library News
📚 Premier’s Reading Challenge is Underway!
Amberley students are encouraged to log the books they read between 6 May and 22 August as part of the 2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge. Books read during daily 20-minute reading homework can be included!
✅ Prep–Year 2: 20 books (read or experienced)
✅ Years 3–4: 20 books
✅ Years 5–9: 15 books
📘 Need a new reader record form? Visit the library.
📖 Book ideas: https://prc.median.com.au/BookList
Completed forms are due 25 August. Let’s keep reading, Amberley!
Sport News
Flash's Favourites
Year 3 Street Science and School Enchancements
Friendly Reminders
Community News
