KSS_W1_T4_Newsletter
Acknowledgement of Country
** Principal Update **
Welcome back to another term! I hope that you all had a lovely break. It has been a very settled start to the term and I would like to thank all of our staff, students and families for contributing to a wonderful start.
I also wanted to inform families that changes to the Blue Card system have now been enacted. These changes include:
- parent volunteers will require blue cards if:
- services or activities do not include their own child
- they attend overnight excursions or camps
- close personal contact may occur with another child (such as assisting with toileting, bathing or dressing).
- external businesses providing services in schools or to children will need a blue card.
I also wanted to remind all parents and carers about our after school procedures. Some students are continuing to play on the oval and the playground nearest the hall after school. This is not safe, as, we do not have staff on duty at this time to monitor, and, we have had injuries to students, as well as instances of property damage. In some cases, we have been made aware that parents. carers are waiting in the carpark for students. I wanted to remind everyone that once the bell goes, students are to exit safely and promptly. This will reduce the risk of student injury, but also allow access for other parents and carers to enter the carpark. We are currently reviewing the gate closing times as another measure to support this.
It is certainly warming up and, as a result, we have seen an increase in the amount of jumpers that have made their way to the lost property boxes. Our staff go through these boxes regularly and return them to students if the items are named. Unfortunately, many of these items are not named and staff have no way of returning items. When this occurs, staff wash these items and we keep these as spares to support students who may need them. Please ensure that you drop in to the lost property boxes if you think your child may have lost a jumper.
When students are outside, they need to be wearing their hats. We have noticed that last week, many students needed to stay in an undercover area to access play as we result of not having a hat. All classrooms have access to sunscreen, but hats are required for all students at playtime. In 2026, when we introduce the SRS scheme, we will include hats in this for families to make this easier, but I am asking all parents and carers to ensure that students come to school with hats each day.
Finally, your feedback is important and I wanted to remind parents and carers that if there is anything that you'd like to see more of in the newsletter, to please let me know via email: principal@kingstonss.eq.edu.au.
Thank you, and have a wonderful week ahead,
Robyn Marshall
Principal
** Deputy Principal Update **
Enrol now for High school
If your child is in Year 6, now is the time to enrol in high school.
What do you need to do now?
Consider Options
- What is your catchment school?
- Is there a school of Excellence Program you wish to apply for?
- Does your student meet criteria for an Excellence Program?
Ask some questions
- Contact the prospective school for enrolment packs, tour dates and enrolment information sessions
If you enrol at Kingston State College before 28 November 2025, you go into the draw to win an ipad. It is important to secure your child’s place before the end of the year.
Screen Time
Is your child’s online time getting in the way of their sleep and exercise? Is it impacting their face-to-face connections with family and friends?
How much is too much?
Navigating the right amount of screen time depends on a range of factors including: your child’s age and maturity, the content they are watching, their needs and your family’s routine. The quality and nature of what your child is doing online, and your involvement, are important factors.
Signs that online activity is having a negative impact on your child or family include:
- less interest in social activities (seeing friends or playing sport)
- tiredness, sleep disturbance, headaches, eye strain
- changes in eating patterns
- reduced personal hygiene
- obsession with particular websites or games
- extreme anger when being asked to take a break from online activity
- appearing anxious or irritable when away from the computer
- becoming withdrawn from friends and family
What to do if you are concerned
- Talk to your child about how much time they spend online and explain why it is worrying and what they could be missing out on.
- Try not to show that you disapprove, or they might shut down communication altogether.
- Talking to your child’s teacher may also reveal academic or social issues, and the school may also be able to provide support.
- If you are worried about issues including cyberbullying, gaming, grooming or unwanted contact, get help for your child by speaking to your family GP.
Help your child manage their online time
- Keep an eye on the games, apps and devices your child uses. Chat with your child regularly and help them stay aware of how much time they are spending on different online and offline activities.
- Include positive things outside the online world in your conversations, such as what they love in life, careers they are interested in and new hobbies.
- Join in. Play games together as a family or explore some joint online projects. Rather than being just a solitary activity, online time can then become another way of strengthening connections as well as building social skills.
- Where possible, avoid limiting online time as a punishment as this approach may inflate its importance to children.
Use the available technology
- Parental controls are software tools that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online.
- There are also apps and software to measure online time as well as set time limits on device use or internet access.
Device-free zones and times can help you manage screen time:
- no devices in the bedroom
- all screens off after a certain time
- all screens off at least one hour before bedtime
- all family members switch off at dinner time
- devices charged overnight in a place your child cannot access
** Prep 2026 Update **
** Health and Physical Education Update **
Welcome back to Term 4! The year has gone fast, and we are into our last units.
This term, our classes in Prep, Y1, Y3 and Y5 have their Water Safety and Swimming Education programs. This includes learning about water safety during our HPE lessons and additional swimming lessons later this term. Please ensure all forms are completed and returned by Wednesday 15th October. Due to the proximity to water environments in our community, water safety is essential learning, I highly encourage attendance to the swimming lessons as the school is covering the cost for this swimming lessons.
This term is also time for Queensland Athletics State Championships to be held in Townsville from Monday, 13 October to Wednesday, 15 October 2025. I’m very proud to share that Jahkeem from Year 4 qualified to State Championships and will be representing the Logan District and Kingston State School at this competition in High Jump. We all wish you good luck Jahkeem, you’ve already made a lot of us proud, and I know you will achieve even more!
For students in Year 2, this term we are focusing on aiming and hitting targets in different contexts. Students will practice their accuracy of punt kicks like in AFL and NRL, in-step passes like in soccer, and one-hand contact like in tennis. This provides them with hand-eye and foot-eye coordination and essential motor skills for their development and success in physical activities in the future.
Our Year 4 students will be involved in an Olympics Spectacle Unit. They will get explore different Olympic events and specialise with some of our track and field events (Sprints, Long Jump & Shot Put). This provides students with ample practice in events that are part of our Annual Athletics Carnival improving their technique and their chances to qualify to district competitions on their last 2 years of primary school.
Finally, our Year 6 students will practice tennis skills through games of mini tennis, pickleball and badminton. This unit provides students with opportunities to improve their hand-eye coordination and skills, their sportsmanship and sports etiquette as well as giving them the opportunity to be involved in current popular community sports like tennis and pickleball.
Marco Miranda
Specialist Teacher – HPE
** FamilyLinQ Update **
Welcome to Kim:
FamilyLinQ warmly welcomes Kim Davis as the Senior Community Connector working Monday – Thursday each week. Kim is a local lady who is raising her family here in Logan and has worked in Logan for over 15 years - including at the St Francis Community Hub. Please drop in to say hi to Kim – she loves a chat.
FamilyLinQ has spent the school holidays reading all of the feedback we received from families to plan term 4. Thank you for all the great ideas! We have lots planned and would love to see some more children and families come along.
This week Kids’ Club celebrated Science Week with ‘Ice cream in a Bag’ making where the children mixed a few ingredients and shook these ingredients up in a bag full of ice and salt – amazingly it worked and delicious ice cream was made!! We also had an afternoon of board games where children and adults had lots of fun together.
We are looking forward to the next few weeks and will be celebrating Diwali, Halloween and importantly FamilyLinQ’s very first birthday – our party will be on Wednesday 22nd October from 3pm – 4pm, check out for our flyer below.
Regular services:
Don’t forget we can help with:
- Food
- Hearing checks
- Getting ready to find a job
- Budgeting and finances
- Connection to services
- Child health
- Parenting
- Pregnancy
- Mental health
Just pop in to get connected 😊
The FamilyLinQ team.
** Community News Update **
Look Before You Lock means building a routine of checking, to avoid unintentionally leaving a child in a car. This means checking even if you know your child is not with you.
Stress, exhaustion and distractions can impact short-term memory, leading to devastating consequences when transporting children. Be sure to discuss your Look Before You Lock routine with every person who transports your child. This includes partners, grandparents and friends.
Learn more about keeping children safe at qld.gov.au/LookBeforeYouLock.
Dyslexia and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are often hidden disorders that affect language, reading, writing and spelling development. In every classroom, 5-10% of students will have Dyslexia, and 1 in 14 students will have DLD. Early identification and the right supports make a real difference to these students’ long term academic and social-emotional outcomes. In October, watch new videos on the Reading and Writing Disorders website to learn more and raise awareness to help kids find their voice. https://readingwritingcentre.education.qld.gov.au/
Get Ready Queensland Week runs from 6–12 October and is a chance for all Queenslanders to prepare their family, property and community for severe weather. While 59% of Queenslanders say they have a plan, only 19% have it written down. Writing a plan makes a big difference.
All it takes is 3 steps to Get Ready:
- know your risk
- make a plan, and
- pack an emergency kit.
Weather doesn’t plan, but you can.
For more helpful information, resources, and tips available visit www.getready.qld.gov.au.
