Brisbane Bayside State College Arts Excellence Day

Brisbane Bayside State College would like to offer students in Years 4, 5, and 6 at Tingalpa State School the opportunity to participate in our ‘Arts Excellence Day’ program on Wednesday 28  May 2025. On this day, students will be able to participate in one discipline within The Arts in which they have a high interest or passion for, choosing from Visual Art, Dance, Drama, and Instrumental Music. The program will run from 9:00am until 3:30pm with parents invited to attend a showcase at 3:00pm, where participating students will be able to present what they have learned. If you would like your child to participate, please complete the survey in the link below as an expression of interest by this Friday 9 May 2025.

If you have any questions relating to the programme please contact Acting Head of Department – The Arts at Brisbane Bayside State College, Richard Maher (rhmah0@eq.edu.au).

https://forms.office.com/r/4ky4J4Amqd

Wynnum and Manly Music Workshop (WAMM)

On Thursday 15 May, our Junior Instrumental students will participate in the Wynnum and Manly Music Workshop at Wynnum State High School. This workshop brings together Instrumental Music students from several Metropolitan Region schools to participate in ensemble playing.

At the end of the workshop, parents are invited to attend the free concert at 2:00pm.

Thank you to Mrs Lisa Leclerc who will attend this workshop with our students.

Year 5/6 Camp

The Year 5/6 school camp will be taking place from 30 July to 1 August 2025 at Camp Goodenough, Carool, NSW.

The latest camp consent forms that have been sent to parents, cover medical/medication needs, dietary (allergies/cultural), travel sickness and night time considerations. Students were given a physical copy yesterday and an electronic copy has also been sent today Thursday 8 May 2025. All copies of initial consent forms will need to be returned to the classroom teacher by the end of Week 5. Once the form is returned, staff will check any student that requires medication at camp and will send home a permission to administer medication consent form.

If any details change after this time, you may update these by printing out the digital copy and adding any details required.

A reminder that camp invoices must be paid in full by 24 June 2025. Please click on the BPoint link in your invoice to make self-managed instalment payments by this date.

For payment enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact Susan Bell: (sbell356@eq.edu.au)

For all other enquiries, please contact Beverley Bowden (bbowd2@eq.edu.au).

National Simultaneous Storytime

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 25th successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

This year NSS takes place on Wednesday 21 May 2025 at 11:00am, Mrs Pop will be reading the book in the library at first break.

If you would like to get involved at home, please feel free to register your interest below. You will be supplied with some resources to join in the event.

The event is FREE! Enter today!

By facilitating NSS we aim to: 

• promote the value of reading and literacy,
• promote the value and fun of books,
• promote an Australian writer and publisher,
• celebrate and promote Storytime activities in public libraries, school libraries, classrooms, bookshops and communities around the country,
• and provide opportunities to involve parents, caregivers, the media, and others to participate in and enjoy the occasion.

NSS receives positive media coverage and generates a great deal of community interest. 2024 was our biggest and most successful NSS to date with over 2.3 million participants at over 21,000 locations!

What do they look for in the National Simultaneous Storytime book?

Each year, interested publishers send in possible titles. From a practical perspective, the publisher must be able and willing to provide copyright release for use of the illustrations, book projection, translation into other languages and performance. The publisher also needs to commit to a special print run of several thousand copies. This narrows down the options. The criteria for choosing from the remaining books include: a positive storyline; appeal to a modern and diverse audience; suitability for read-aloud (language and length); how well the book lends itself to craft and other activities.

THE TRUCK CAT

A story about cats and humans, immigration and identity, and homes lost and found.

Some cats are house cats. Some are apartment cats.

But Tinka is a truck cat. Tinka lives everywhere.

Along with his human, Yacoub, Tinka travels roads wide and narrow, near and distant. But no matter how much they travel, home feels very far away – for both of them.

Yacoub drives his truck to make a living, learning the landscape of a new country along the way, and longing for connection. When Tinka and Yacoub are unexpectedly separated, they are determined to find their way back to each other – and, in doing so, might find more than they expected …

The Premier's Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge is not a competition but a way to encourage students to develop a love of reading for life. Through the challenge children and students are given an opportunity to develop their appreciation of the English language and additional languages and are encouraged to explore and enjoy a wide range of literary texts.

Children and students can participate in the challenge within their school, early childhood centre or as individual readers (home-educated students, students whose schools are not participating in the program or children who are not enrolled in an early childhood centre).

Children and students who complete the challenge have their efforts recognised through the receipt of a Certificate of Achievement. Early childhood centres will also receive a centre-wide certificate of recognition for their involvement.

Schools, early childhood centres and parents of individual readers are encouraged to recognise reading achievements by holding classroom, school or home ceremonies to present certificates during the Premier's Reading Challenge celebrations weeks. 

School and individual readers (Prep to Year 9)

For a student to successfully complete the Premier's Reading Challenge they are required to read or experience the number of books indicated below:

• Prep to Year 2—read or experience 20 books.
• Years 3 to 4—read 20 books.
• Years 5 to 9—read 15 books.

Experiencing a book includes classroom or at home activities such as shared reading, listening and reading along with a book, or being read to.

The requirement for Year 5 through to Year 9 students to read 15 books rather than 20 books acknowledges that older students are likely to select longer, more complex books that may take them longer to read.

Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability. While there is no compulsory reading list for the challenge, book lists are available to help students, teachers, parents and guardians select appropriate reading material.

* Teachers and parents can determine when they commence and conclude the reading challenge to suit their requirements, if they are within the timeframes outlined above.