It’s hard to believe that we are now into Week 4 of Term 1. How quickly this term is going.

Last week our Student Leaders, House Captains, and Student Council Representatives were presented to the school community at our Special Leaders Parade. Ms Mona Anau, Acting Principal at Dalby State High School was our special guest who presented the 2025 Student Leaders with their badges of office. Following this special presentation parents and friends were invited to join the students for a morning tea. I would like to congratulate our Student Leaders for 2025!

 Here are some important updates and upcoming events to keep you informed.

• Next Monday, the 24^th February will be the Bunya Swimming Carnival, at the Dalby Aquatic Centre. Congratulations to the following swimmers who will represent our school at the Bunya Zone trial: Nicholas Summerville, Tanner Cummings, Noah Feuerheerdt, Joey McGovern, Addison Ehrich, Addison Brandt, Karlos Partridge, Emily Forbes, Harriet Edwards, Hayley Darbey and Imali Draper.
• Our Student Leaders will be attending a Student Leader Workshop at Highfields next Tuesday, 25^th February. The Student Leaders will be attending the GRIP Student Leader Workshop. This is a valuable day for the students as they get to participate in activities and learn what is needed to be a leader!
• Wednesday 26^th and Thursday 27^th February are our School Photo Days.
• Then on Thursday will be the first Creekside Markets Meeting for 2025. This will be held from 3.30pm in the Year 1/2 Eating Area. This is a great opportunity for you to get learn more about the Creekside Markets and how you can help out on the day of the markets.
• Words Out West excursion is on Tuesday 4^th March at the Dalby Events Centre. Year levels will be participating in various shows across the day.
• Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 11^th March, at 6.30pm in the Admin Building. Our teachers are working diligently to implement the latest version of the Australian Curriculum, in English and Mathematics.
• There are a number of representative sports being called this term. If you need further information about any upcoming sporting events please speak with Trina Little or Nikita King.

NAPLAN Online  

This year, Dalby State School will continue to participate in the NAPLAN online test (Year 3 & 5 Students). NAPLAN test window will open from Wednesday 12 March – Monday 24 March. If you are after an exemption, please contact the office and speak to Mrs Beth Minter (Head of Special Education).

Your child will do the NAPLAN tests online

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment. 

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway. 

Participation in NAPLAN

NAPLAN is for all Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students. ACARA supports inclusive testing, so all students have the opportunity to participate in the National Assessment Program. Adjustments are available for students with disability who have diverse functional abilities and needs. Schools should work with parents/carers and students to identify, on a case-by-case basis, reasonable adjustments required for individual students with disability to access NAPLAN. Adjustments should reflect the support normally provided for classroom assessments. To help inform these decisions, you may consult the NAPLAN public demonstration site, the Guide for schools to assist students with disability to access NAPLAN (PDF 96 KB), and our series of videos where parents/carers, teachers and students share their experiences in using NAPLAN adjustments.

In exceptional circumstances, a student with a disability that severely limits their capacity to participate in the assessment, or a student who has recently arrived in Australia and has a non-English speaking background, may be granted a formal exemption. Your school principal and your local test administration authority can give you more information on adjustments for students with disability or the process required to gain a formal exemption.

What can I do to support my child?

Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN. You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program and reminding them to simply do their best. Some explanation of NAPLAN is useful to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the tests; however, it is not necessary for parents/carers to do this. Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the tests and will provide appropriate support and guidance. 

See the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessments at the public demonstration site.

What if my child is absent from school on NAPLAN test days? 

Where possible, schools may arrange for individual students who are absent at the time of testing to complete missed tests at another time during the school’s test schedule.

NAPLAN timetable 

The NAPLAN test window is 9 days. This is to accommodate schools that may not have the capacity to complete the tests in a shorter time frame.

Schools will schedule the tests as soon as possible within the testing window, prioritising the first week.

See Key dates or NAPLAN test window for more information.

Have a great week,

Regards Scott

Term 1 2025

Week 3

Week 4

The Cleaner's Award for the cleanest classroom in Week 3 has been awarded to

4B!

The Cleaner's Award for the cleanest classroom in Week 4 has been awarded to

5A!

This week at Dalby State School, we were lucky enough to have some visitors from the Redcliffe Dolphins to run some skills and drills with our Rugby League Excellence students. Students had a lot of fun will be excited to test out some of their new skill during Rugby League lessons.

Also, a number of students have been training hard for the upcoming SWQ Futsal titles in Toowoomba. We will have four teams competing ranging from U10 – U12 Boys and Girls. It will be a great experience for our students.  

Please find below the upcoming Bunya Trial Dates. If your child would like to participate in any of these trials, please contact Ms Little or Miss King, or contact the school.

• Monday 24th February – Swimming
• Monday 3rd March – Netball U10 - U12 Boys and Girls
• Tuesday 11th March - Basketball U10 - U12 Boys and Girls
• Tuesday 18th March – Rugby League U11 - U12 Boys

Thank you to all family. friends and special guests who attended our Annual Badge Ceremony. Thank you to the students for showing commitment and pride throughout the ceremony. We look forward to seeing what the year ahead will bring for our Leaders. 

Lesson and Break Times

Student Absence

Parents of students who are absent without explanation at 9am roll marking will receive a text message alert. This message requests parents to contact the school either by phone, return SMS or email to confirm the absence and reason. If you know that your child will be absent from school or is sick, please use one of the following options to inform the school. You can also notify in advance of appointments or family holidays.

If your child is away from school, you can phone the Student Absence Line 24/7 on (07) 4672 3660 or the school number (07) 4672 3666 and follow the prompts leaving student name, class and reason for absence and the duration of absence, you can fill in the information on the Absentee form on the schoolzine link on the school newsletter, or on the downloaded Schoolzine app or email: absences@dalbyss.eq.edu.au.

Late to School

Students are required to arrive at school between 8.30am and 8.55am each day. School commences at 9am and concludes at 3pm. If a student arrives after the start of the school day, he/she must present to the Front Office for a late slip.

Exemptions from Schooling

Students who are absent from school for more than ten consecutive days (because of illness or family holidays) require an exemption.

Principals may approve exemptions from school of less than one year where there is an appropriate reason and/or it would be inappropriate for the child to attend. These measures should be discussed with the principal.

What is PBL?

PBL is a systems approach to establishing the social culture and behavioural supports needed for all children in a school to achieve both social and academic success. PBL is not a packaged curriculum, but an approach that defines core elements that can be achieved through a variety of strategies.” (G.Sugai, R. Horner; 2007).

Positive behaviour supports can effectively address a range of behavioural needs from those who just need minor supports to those who require more intensive in-depth supports. The goal of PBL is to enhance the capacity of schools to educate all students, especially students with challenging social behaviours, by establishing an effective continuum of PBL systems and practices.

With PBL:

• Expectations for student behaviour are defined by a school based team with all staff input.

• Effective behavioural support is implemented consistently by staff and administration. 

• Appropriate student behaviour is taught 

• Positive behaviours are publicly acknowledged. 

• Problem behaviours have clear consequences

• Student behaviour is monitored and staff receive regular feedback.

• Effective behavioural support strategies are implemented at the school-wide, specific setting, classroom, and individual student level. 

• Effective behavioural support strategies are designed to meet the needs of all students

Dalby State School Reinforcement of Expected Behaviour

• Behaviour walls in each classroom display our school values and school expectations.  Strategies to reinforce expected behaviours including a focus on positive consequences for behaviour are included. 

• Each week Student of the Week Awards are presented on Parade to students demonstrating our values. 

• Class Dojo – Teachers use Class Dojo to record positive behaviour choices made in classroom settings.  These points are awarded each time a child is demonstrating one or more of the school values of “Respect, Safety and Learning”.  These points are accumulated throughout the year with students accessing the rewards menu and collecting bag tags at regular intervals.  Free and frequent awarding of points if encouraged to ensure a positive learning culture within your classroom

Week 4

Week 5

Hi all,

Welcome to the new school year, I hope everyone is excited to be back. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Karl Pumpa and I am the Dalby State School Chaplain.

You might be wondering what a school chaplain does.  The official tagline for my role is “to support students, staff and parents socially, emotionally and spiritually”.  Basically, I’m here to be available for students to talk to me about anything.  Whether they’ve just had a bad day or would like to talk about something more serious, I am here to help. 

My role isn’t to offer a counselling service but a listening ear to anyone in the school community who would like to chat and/or work through an issue confidentially.  I will also be running targeted programs to promote student wellbeing as the year goes on. 

I also run some lunch time activities. Chess Club is on Wednesdays both breaks in the art room and players of all skill are welcome.  The “Peoples Club” is on Fridays, which is simply an organised game for students looking for something to do in break time.  Grades P-3 can find me under the big tree in the playground at first break and grades 4-6 can find me in the MPC at second break. 

I’ll see you around the school on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Chappy Karl

As a bonus, here’s a joke to make your kids eyes roll:

Q: What do you call a bear with no teeth?

A: A gummy bear

Tuckshop Update-

The Dalby State School Tuckshop will be open for business 3 days a week (Mon, Wed & Fri.) Orders are to be placed by 8am for same day delivery. 

• Students and Staff will be able to place orders online via - Qkr App
• Bag orders are welcome, they will need to be filled out at home and placed in the container provided- no ordering over the counter 

Visit the website to see how you can shop online and delivery options on www.wearitto.com.au alternatively uniform order forms are available in The Front Office and can be placed in the box provided next to the uniform shop. Any further questions please email dalbyss@wearitto.com.au 

Uniform Policy

Dalby State School is a full uniform school with a School Dress Code. The school community has designed and supports all students wearing this uniform to show pride in our school.  It is a recognised fact, that when students are wearing a uniform they gain a sense of belonging and greater awareness of their role and expectations.

Formal uniform is worn on a Monday and is compulsory for years 4 to 6 and preferred for all other year levels, otherwise the school uniform can be worn. The School uniform is worn Tuesday through to Thursday and Sports uniform on a Friday.