Friday Flash Term 4, Week 3 - 24th October, 2025
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
🌻 Grandparents Day Joy
What a wonderful way to finish the week — celebrating one of our favourite events of the year, Grandparents Day!
Despite the heat and some parking challenges, nothing could stop the joy and smiles from our students as they welcomed their grandparents to school. Thank you so much to everyone who came along and shared in the afternoon. Each year, Grandparents Day continues to grow, and we truly appreciate your feedback to help us make it a special experience for everyone.
This year, based on community feedback, we moved the event to the afternoon to allow more time for classroom visits and activities with grandchildren. While we’ve previously brought everyone together as one large group, our growing school community now means we have too many wonderful visitors to fit in one space — what a great problem to have! It was particularly lovely to see so many grandparents visiting our upper-school students this year.
A heartfelt thank you to our staff for their hard work in organizing the day and to our teachers for preparing engaging classroom activities.
🗳️ Student Leadership 2026
Student leadership voting will commence in classes next week!
I’ve had the pleasure of watching the videos created by our Year 5 leadership candidates, and they have done a wonderful job presenting themselves and sharing their ideas for next year. I know our students will really enjoy hearing from our potential school leaders as they prepare to make their votes.
This is always such an exciting time of year, and we are so proud of the courage, confidence, and commitment our Year 5 students have shown throughout the leadership process. 💙💛
🤝 Parent Engagement
At the moment, we don’t have a P&C, which means all events and activities are organized by the school team. We do our best to plan these so they cater to families, but we would love to re-establish a Parent Consultation and Events Group in 2026. This group would support the school by providing feedback, helping with events, and assisting with fundraising and grant applications to further enhance our learning environment.
If you are interested in being involved, please reach out — we’d love to hear from you!
📊 School Opinion Survey
Last week, we received our School Opinion Survey results. Thank you to all parents who took the time to complete the survey — your feedback is incredibly valuable and directly informs our decision-making, policies, and improvement priorities.
Some initiatives developed from previous parent feedback include:
Updated Newsletter format and communication processes
Revised Student Code of Conduct
Homework Policy review and alignment
Highlights from this year’s results
✅ Improved consistency in behaviour management
✅ Clear school expectations
✅ Celebration of student achievement
✅ Positive school culture
✅ High staff morale (17 points above the state average!)
Areas for continued improvement
🔹 Increasing parent understanding of how behaviour is managed
🔹 Reducing red tape for staff — aligning with new departmental initiatives
We’re so proud of our progress and culture at Amberley — it’s a testament to our dedicated staff, supportive families, and amazing students. 💙💛
🌞 Sun Safety
The weather has certainly heated up, and with a potential heatwave ahead, please ensure your child brings a water bottle and hat to school each day. Hats are available through the Uniform Shop or QKR!
To promote sun safety, we’ll be giving out bonus ACE tickets this week to students who remember to wear their hats! 🧢💦
Have a great week everyone!
Kelli Harvey
Principal
Wellbeing and Engagement
🌞 PBL Focus of the Week
We are SAFE when we are SUN SAFE!
As the weather warms up, it’s the perfect time to remind everyone about the importance of being sun safe at school. At Amberley District State School, being SAFE is one of our key expectations—and that includes looking after ourselves in the sun.
☀️ Hats on for safety!
Students must wear a broad-brimmed hat during all outdoor activities, including PE lessons, playtime, and outdoor learning. Children without a hat will need to stay in shaded areas during break times, in line with our Department of Education Sun Safety Policy.
To encourage great habits, teachers will be handing out ACE tickets to students who are:
✅ Wearing their hat in the playground
✅ Bringing their hat to PE lessons
✅ Showing responsibility by keeping their hat in their bag or classroom
💧 Stay hydrated!
With the hotter months ahead, we also encourage students to bring a water bottle each day. Keeping hydrated helps students stay focused, think clearly, and engage as self-managers and learners—two of our key Learning Assets.
🌡️ Our School Heat Policy
Amberley has a Heat Policy to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students during extreme temperatures. You can read this policy on our school website.
Together, let’s continue to model our school expectations by being SAFE, RESPECTFUL, FRIENDLY LEARNERS—and sun smart too! 😎
Music
🎵 Spooktacular Sounds! 👻
The spooky spirit continued this week in our Instrumental Music Program, with our school band performing a spooktacular concert for our Year 3 students! This exciting performance gave students a sneak peek into what it’s like to be part of the band as we begin preparations for our 2026 Instrumental Music recruitment.
Learning a musical instrument supports many of our Learning Assets — helping children to be Collaborators, Communicators, Thinkers, and Self-Managers. It builds confidence, concentration, and perseverance, while also providing a wonderful way to make new friendships and feel connected across the school.
School Attendance
Our School attendance rate is currently 89.6%. Our goal is 95%.
This week's attendance winners are Prep A and Year 5A
Unexplained absence letters are deployed twice a term. Soaring Attendance Certificates are given out at the end of term for children who achieve attendance of 95% or above! You can update attendance through the QParents app.
Payments Due
Save the Date
📅 Term 3 Key Dates
- 27 – 31 Oct – 🗳️ 2026 Student Leadership Voting
31 Oct – 🍎 World Teachers’ Day
6 Nov – 🏠 House Voting – 2026 Student Leadership
7 Nov – 🌿 Outdoor Classroom Day
11 Nov – 🌺 Remembrance Day – 1 Minute Silence
18 Nov – 🏊 Swimming (Years 4–6) Ipswich Swim Factory
20 Nov – 🏊 Swimming (Years 4–6) Ipswich Swim Factory
- 24 Nov - 🖤💛❤️ Deadly Awards
25 Nov – 🏊 Swimming (Years 4–6) Ipswich Swim Factory
27 Nov – 🏊 Swimming (Years 4–6) Ipswich Swim Factory
28 Nov – 🏊 Swimming (Years 4–6) Ipswich Swim Factory
4 Dec – 🚍 Year 4 Walloon Excursion | 🎉 School Disco
5 Dec – 🎓 High School Transition Day | 🤝 Transition Afternoon
8 Dec – 🏊 Swimming (Years 4–6)
9 Dec – 🎉 Year 6 Big Day Out | 🎄 Junior Christmas Concert
10 Dec – 🏆 Awards Presentations
11 Dec – 🎓 Year 6 Graduation | 🎊 Break Up Day
12 Dec – ✨ Last Day of Term 4
📌 Please note: Dates are subject to change. Keep an eye on school updates!
Tuckshop News
🚨 BREAKING NEWS ALERT 🚨.
Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough fundraiser is coming to Amberley! 🍪
Over the next few weeks, we will be selling dough-licious cookie dough to fundraise for new tuckshop equipment.
👀 Please keep an eye out for an form that will be sent home in the coming days.
Orders are placed on the online portal at www.cookiedough.com.au.
Cut of date for orders to be placed is 14th November.
Prizes for every student that sells 2 or more tubs plus a price valued at $100 for our top selling student.
For enquires please email tuckshop@amberleydistrictss.eq.edu.au
Library News
Flash's Favourites
Grandparents Day
Flash's Favourites
♻️ Support Our EcoMarines & Gumbuya Garden! 🌱
We encourage all Amberley families to get involved with Containers for Change. Every eligible container donated supports our student-led EcoMarines projects and helps grow our beautiful Gumbuya Garden.
It’s a small act that makes a big difference for our school and the environment! 🌏
Use the barcode below when returning your containers to support Amberley District State School:
📲 Scan this barcode at any Containers for Change drop-off point:
Thank you for making a difference!
Friendly Reminders
Community News
Bremer State High School Enrolments for 2026
Enrolments for 2026 at Bremer State High School are now open. Online applications are preferred, but paper copies are available if needed.
📅 Orientation Day: Friday, 5 December 2025
📝 You must be enrolled by Friday, 28 November 2025 to attend Orientation Day.
For more information, visit Bremer SHS Enrolments: https://bremershs.eq.edu.au/enrolments or contact the school office on 3810 9333.
