29 May 2025

The Principal

Before and After School Procedures

Our Talara students are fantastic with the before school routines.  Students make their way to their year level designated waiting areas and sit quietly to read, chat or access laptops (on specified days). Our staff supervision of students before school commences at 8:20am and students are encouraged to arrive at school after this time.

As you may know, our school day ends at 2:45pm. Many of our students attend the out-of-school-hours care program (Helping Hands) both before and after school. Helping Hands have a hire agreement with Talara Primary College. Helping Hands have sole use of our playgrounds and play areas from 3:00pm every day. Currently, we have approximately 120 students attending this program each afternoon.

Unfortunately, we are encountering a few challenges that are affecting both the safety of Talara students and the smooth operation of our school and the after-school care program:

1) Playground Access for Helping Hands: Currently, many parents and students are remaining in the playground area (particularly prep and junior playground) after school finishes. This delays Helping Hands educators from bringing the children in their care onto the playgrounds for their scheduled activities. For safety and child protection reasons, the Helping Hands educators must ensure that only the children in their care are in these playground areas, and they cannot proceed until all other adults and children have vacated the area.

2) Safety Concerns: At the end of the school day, there are students who continue to play soccer on grassed areas near footpaths, often right in the middle of the peak time when hundreds of children and parents are leaving the school. Unfortunately, this has led to some accidents, as students have been unintentionally run into by others who are chasing a soccer ball or have been hit with or tripped over soccer balls which have come across the paths from accidental misdirected kicks.

3) Stop, Drop, and Go Challenges: Parents have driven into the school Stop, Drop, Go bays and expected their child to be waiting in this area and ready to be picked up. After investigation, the child has been found playing with other students in the school. This creates confusion (as to where the child is) and congestion in the Stop, Drop, and Go zone, further complicating the traffic situation outside our school during this peak time.

The school’s policy for ‘Before and After’ school procedures, has not changed. Playgrounds and play areas are not for use before or after school. To ensure the smooth operation of both the Helping Hands program and safe journeying home for all, we kindly request that parents and students move off the school grounds promptly after school finishes at 2:45pm. The local park, just across the road from the school, is a wonderful alternative for students and families who wish to continue socialising or engaging in recreational activities.

Your cooperation in this matter will help us maintain a safe and organised environment for all our students and ensure the continued success of our after-school programs.

Communicating with your child's school guideline

At the end of Term 1, 2025, the Queensland Minister for Education and the Arts committed to releasing a set of consistent state-wide expectations for communication between parents/carers and their child’s school

Please see below the ‘Communicating with your child’s school’ guideline which outlines clear, consistent expectations for how parents/carers can engage with their child’s school, including appropriate contact channels, response timelines, and processes for raising concerns respectfully. Educating your child is a team effort. We value open and respectful communication with parents across all aspects of your child’s development, including learning, wellbeing and engagement.

Trivia Night

Another successful, entertaining and over the top FUN night was held last week for the annual Talara Trivia event. Thanks to all our community members who showed their support of our school through their sponsorship, attendance or their assistance in volunteering in the running of the 2025 Trivia Night. A huge shout out to the Talara P&C for their coordination of this important community event. It takes a well organised team to run such a big community event, and the P&C did a fabulous job. A special thank you as well to the school leadership team who worked all night on the ‘red cordials and lime sodas’ drinks service. Please see the P&C article further down in our school newsletter to see the list of sponsors and consider these businesses if you have a service need in their field.

P & C News

The Talara P&C has had an exceptionally busy few weeks with many events taking place, and we are incredibly grateful to the school community for all the support. 

P&C Day  

Firstly, on behalf of every member of the P&C, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to each class for the beautifully hand-painted suns and the kind words expressing what you appreciate most about our team. Your messages truly lift our spirits and remind us how much the students value the time and effort that goes into organising events—like the Colour Run and the Winter Sun Carnival—as well as initiatives such as the writing wizard awards, lunch time sports equipment and funding new projects.  

These are made possible thanks to the support of this amazing community, and we are so grateful to be a part of it. 

Mega Draw Raffle  

Our lucky winners of the Mega Draw Raffle have been drawn and contacted. A huge congratulations to our lucky winners!  

Thanks to our incredible sponsors and the amazing support from our community, we raised over $14,000—a phenomenal achievement! 

Trivia Night 

The highly anticipated Trivia Night was a tremendous success, creating many wonderful new memories for the Talara P&C community. 

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the many individuals who made the evening so special: 

• Jarrod Bleijie, for his entertaining performance as Elvis, 
• our NBA 2K25 Basketball School Executive Team, for generously volunteering their time, 
• Ben Butler, for serving as our engaging MC, 
• James from Think Trivia, for facilitating the trivia experience, 
• Mel Bruce, for managing our lighting and sound with professionalism, and 
• the Monopoly Silver Ladies, for their dedication and efforts in planning and organising the event. 

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to all who attended. Your creativity and enthusiasm were essential to the event’s success. We look forward to revealing the total funds raised in due course.  

To view more photos from the evening, please visit our Facebook page. 

Uniform Shop   

Sports Days are on 16-19 June, and the Uniform Shop has house shirts and a range of hair accessories in house colours available for purchase.  

Tucker Shack  

Our Tucker Shack garden has recently been revitalised, thanks to the support of the Bunnings Community Grant. A special thank you to Leonie for the wonderful work she has done with the planting. 

The fresh greens from the garden are now being used by the Tucker Shack team as key ingredients in the delicious, house-made menu items prepared right here at Talara. 

As the mornings become more chilly, warm up with a hot coffee from the Tucker Shack! 
We proudly serve locally roasted beans from Groundskeeper Willie – Moffat Beach. Swing by and grab your cup of freshly brewed goodness! 

Beth Bonney
P & C President
Talara Primary College

Premier’s Reading Challenge

In 2024 close to 900 schools, and more than 270 centres took part in The Premier’s Reading Challenge combining more than 215,000 Queensland children and students, reading 1.9 million books. What an outstanding achievement!

This year we are really highlighting the importance of every child reading and joining the Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge and it will be a great incentive to motivate our readers. Every young Queenslander can take part in the challenge regardless of their reading ability. Prep to Year 2 students can even record books that are being read to them by parents, carers or older siblings.

Students have already received their individual participation sheet to record all of the wonderful books they read between now and August. 

We know we have sensational students who love to read, so parents, please support your child in sending back the registration and then enthusiastically recording each completed book in their log.

Simply return the completed record form to your class teacher before Friday 22 August 2025 and the school will submit your child’s name for the special certificate from the Premier of Queensland, Mr David Crisafulli MP.

For further information visit the Premier's Reading Challenge website.

ICAS ASSESSMENTS 2025

Students from Year 3 – 6 are invited to sit the ICAS (International Competition and Assessment for Schools) Assessments in English and Mathematics.

The English primary school level papers of ICAS English exams challenge and extend high-achieving students while reinforcing key English literacy skills in these crucial earlier years of language development. Students read a variety of texts which narrate, describe, explain, argue, persuade and review. The texts increase in complexity within each paper as well as between the papers, which are each designed according to the respective stage of the national Australian curriculum.

The Mathematics primary school level papers of ICAS Maths exams challenge and extend high-achieving school students while reinforcing key numeracy skills in these crucial foundational years, providing a strong building block for future learning. Students answer a variety of questions on topics such as arithmetic, patterns, geometry, data and pre-algebra, which increase in complexity throughout the paper and encourage the use of higher-order thinking skills.

If you would like your child to participate in the ICAS assessment testing in 2025, please follow the steps below:

1. Select the link to register your child for one or both of the tests

https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/parent-payment/TWF958

1. Complete the ONLINE REGISTRATION component (outlined in the permission form) by Monday 28 July 2025 this includes payment for the nominated tests
2. Complete the attached consent form and return to school by Monday 28 July
3. Ensure that your child is able to sit the ICAS assessments on the following dates:
    - ENGLISH: 9am 12 August 2025
    - MATHEMATICS: 9am 26 August 2025

Talara Enviromentally Aware Kids (TEAK)

The TEAK team enjoyed being back outside in the sunshine last week to tend to our gardens. The teams split up to complete tasks including:

• watering the new rosemary plants in the ANZAC Garden
• watering the tomato, capsicum and strawberry seedlings 
• watering our avocado and small citrus plants
• picking lemons and mandarins
• delivering picked fruit to the Tucker Shack
• bagging the Containers for Change from the disco
• emptying the compost containers into the compost tumblers

For Mother's Day we collected basil, sage and rosemary from the school gardens and made herb posies wrapped with a ribbon to give to our mothers and carers. We also made a list of environmentally friendly gift ideas for mums. These included:

• Hand made cards
• Breakfast in bed
• Home grown herbs, fruit and vegetables
• Hand written recipes to go with fresh produce
• Home grown posy of flowers
• Bees wax wraps
• Reusable cutlery packs
• Keep cups for coffee
• Home made vouchers for help at home
• Pressed flower cards and book marks

We will meet again on Friday Week 7 at first break.

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SPORTS DAY!

Students are busy preparing for our upcoming Sports Days in PE lessons! Please see our carnival dates below. Program of events will be distributed closer Week 9. Students in Year 4, 5 & 6 will also compete in high jump pre-trials, these trials will be held within school hours, students will be notified of the trial date/times once determined.  

TERM 2, WEEK 9

• 800m Finals (Year 4, 5 & 6)- Monday 16June from 1:45pm (afternoon session)
• Senior Sports Day (Year 4, 5 & 6)- Tuesday 17 June (all day event)
• Middle Sports Day (Year 2 & 3)- Wednesday 18 June (all day event)
• Junior Sports Day (PREP & Year 1)- Thursday 19 June (9:00-12:00pm)

Representative School Sport

The Regional Touch Football trials were held over the 22May and 23May at Glasshouse Mountains Sports Club. I was lucky to attend as the Boys manager and watch our three Talara girls, Ivy-Rose, Mia M and Georgie, play a wonderful two days of football. Both the Coastal girls and boys teams took out the carnival undefeated, along with both teams also winning the “shoot out competition” held each year. Well done to the girls for being an integral part of a very successful girls team, and to Georgie who was selected in the Sunshine Coast Regional team. She will be off to Roma mid-August for the Girls State Championships! All the best Georgie!

Talara Primary College’s Egyptian Oasis Book Fair

Get ready to journey into the world of books! Talara Primary College is excited to host our Scholastic Book Fair from:

Monday 9 June – Thursday 12 June
8:00am – 8:45am & 2:45pm – 3:45pm

Friday 13 June
8:00am – 9:00am only

This is a wonderful opportunity for our Talara community to come together to celebrate reading and help support our school library. All proceeds from the Book Fair go directly back into the library, allowing us to purchase the latest new-release books for our students to enjoy.

Students will receive a Wish List during library class time to fill out, take home and discuss with their family/carers.  If you're unable to attend the fair in person, you can pay online using the instructions provided on the Wish List. Your child just needs to bring the list back with the receipt number filled in, and we’ll take care of the rest!

Alternatively, families are welcome to come in and purchase books before or after school using cash or card.

Competition Time!

This week, students can join in the fun with our “Guess the Number of Pages in the Mummified Book” competition!  Each year level has the chance to win a brand-new book from our “Egyptian Oasis” Book Fair collection.

We truly appreciate your support—this is our only annual fundraiser for the library, and every purchase helps bring more wonderful stories into our students' lives.

See you at the Book Fair!

Born Wired: Location Sharing

Knowing when you are sharing your location – and who can see it – can help you protect your privacy and stay safe online.

What is location sharing?

Location sharing is when a digital device or online service enables tracking of where you are, where you’ve been or where you’re going. This is often done live, using a data network that connects with navigation satellites. There are a few Global Navigation Satellite Systems: the Global Positioning System (GPS) is one example.

Some apps are built specifically to provide location sharing features. But almost any online platform or service that allows you to share content or communicate with other people may reveal your location, either intentionally or without realising it.

The settings on your devices and accounts usually control who can see your location and for how long. For example, using your phone to ‘check-in’ on social media at a venue may show where you are just at that moment, or your bank account data may show where you are shopping when you pay for something. A ride share app may show where you are whenever you’re online, not just when you have an active booking, and your location could be visible all the time if your wearable device is always connected to a fitness app, even if the wearable isn’t switched on. It all depends on your settings, including the level of privacy.

The BENEFITS of location sharing

• Getting directions and localised information 
• Keeping track of family and friends
• Tracking where you’ve been
• Preventing fraud

The RISKS of sharing your location

• People may see more about you than you intend
• Your information may be used to stalk, harass or coerce you
• Your data may be used to manipulate you

How to PROTECT your location

Your location can be tracked or recorded in many ways. For example, by using location services or GPS tracking on your device or apps, through online accounts or shared accounts that show your location, or by using spyware or surveillance systems. Here are some steps you can take, if you’re concerned:

• Use your account or device settings to limit your location sharing
• Use the ‘Safety Check’ on your iPhone to review who has access to your location
• Don’t check in to venues on social media or give away location information by mistake
• Check and adjust apps that use GPS tracking to find your device’s location
• Check for spyware on your devices such as phones and laptops
• Check for any GPS tracking devices in your car and personal belongings such as bags and toys
• Check for unknown connections to your car's internal GPS tracking system

For more information and support, visit:

Year 6 High School Transition

On Tuesday 24 June 2025, all Year 6 students attending Coalition State Primary Schools are invited to attend their ‘in-catchment’ secondary school (Caloundra State High School, Kawana Waters State College, Meridan State College or Baringa State Secondary College) for the day to experience what high school is like and become familiar with their ‘in-catchment’ Secondary School for 2026.

 As previously communicated to you, state secondary schools have enrolment management plans. Catchment maps can be accessed at the Ed Map website https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/maps/edmap/. Students are expected to attend their ‘in-catchment’ secondary school as determined by their residential address, unless they have accepted a scholarship or an offer to participate in a Program of Excellence at an ‘out-of-catchment’ school.

Date: Tuesday 24 June 2025

Transport: Parents are required to drop off and collect their child at their designated ‘in-catchment’ high school

Dress Code: Students are expected to wear their primary school uniform

Supervision: Students will be supervised by a teacher from their primary school

Things to bring: Writing equipment, lunch, water bottle and hat.

CALOUNDRA STATE HIGH SCHOOL: Start time: 9:00am Finish Time: 2:30pm

Assembly Point: Student Centre (access from Bower Street)

A meet and greet session with the Principal and Student Support Team will run from 2:00pm – 2:30pm in the Conference Room in A Block. Interested parents can register their interest via link in attached letter.

KAWANA WATERS STATE COLLEGE: Start time: 9:00am Finish Time: 2:30pm

Assembly Point: Secondary Administration Block (on Sportsmans Parade)

Tours are available throughout the school year via registration with the secondary campus office. Please check our website for details.

MERIDAN STATE COLLEGE: Start time: 9:00am Finish Time: 2:30pm

Morning Assembly Point: Performing Arts Complex

Afternoon pick up point: Senior Undercroft (located at the front gates of the secondary campus)

Parents wishing to drop off their students personally will have the opportunity to meet with the Deputy Principal and the Head of Department Junior Secondary. There will be tea & coffee available at the café.

BARINGA STATE SECONDARY COLLEGE: Start time: 9:00am Finish Time: 2:30pm

Assembly Point: Grassed area outside the Executive Building

Students will meet at the assembly point at 9am and will be dismissed from at 2:30pm

Should you have any questions regarding the organisation of this day, please contact your child’s teacher or myself. Enquiries regarding Enrolment Management Plans (EMP) and corresponding catchment boundaries should be directed to the relevant high school. Contact details can be found on the high school's website.

Secondary School Catchment Information

The Caloundra Coalition of Secondary Schools, wish you and your student a successful, productive and memorable final year of state primary education.

During this year, coalition primary schools will work together with the four local state secondary sites – Baringa State Secondary College, Caloundra State High School, Kawana Waters State College and Meridan State College, to provide a comprehensive and supportive program to assist both you and your student to make the transition to junior secondary schooling. At this early time of the year, we would like to provide you with important information regarding coalition enrolment processes for students transitioning to high school:

• Similar to primary school, all four coalition secondary sites have an Enrolment Management Plan (EMP) and corresponding catchment boundary.
• Parents can determine in which catchment they live by using the EdMap website (http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/maps/edmap/ ). This is the method used by all coalition secondary schools to determine if a student is living ‘in-catchment’.
• Students are guaranteed enrolment at the school that is indicated by this web site as their ‘in-catchment’ school. This is determined by the student’s residential address. Proof of residency is required when lodging an enrolment application with a coalition secondary school and catchment status will be verified upon enrolment.
• The ‘in-catchment’ secondary school is the site that the student is assumed to be attending for Year 6 Transition Days in June and December.
• If a student has an older sibling already attending at an ‘out-of-catchment’ secondary school, the Enrolment Management Plan allows for the student to enrol at that school as long as certain conditions are met.
• Students may enrol in an ‘out-of-catchment’ school if they are successful in gaining a place in a scholarship program or Program of Excellence at that school.
• Parents may lodge a written Expression of Interest to enrol in an ‘out-of-catchment’ school for consideration by the Principal. ‘Out-of-catchment’ enrolments are granted at the sole discretion of the Principal and are subject to available enrolment capacity at the school after all ‘in-catchment’ enrolments have been accommodated.
• Details of each secondary school’s Enrolment Management Plan can be found on the school’s website.
• Each school has an Enrolment Officer who can be contacted to provide further information and advice.

State schools are great schools! Our secondary schools have planned a wide variety of whole day, before school and after school events that showcase the new and exciting opportunities available to Year 7 students. We urge you to take advantage and participate as much as possible in the Year 6 Transition Program this year. A summary of key dates is included on the back of the attached letter for your reference. Further details for each event will be provided closer to the day.

Chaplains Corner

Talara’s Chaplaincy Service is keeping busy!

Please join with me in thanking the Champions who make our Chappy Brekky Club happen each and every fortnight. Currently we’re a small team of four parents, four community members, three teachers, and ten student volunteers, serving 21 loaves of bread, and cereal using more than 12 litres of milk. We are grateful to Woolworths Currimundi, Coles Birtinya and Gateway Care for their generous donations, without which we could not deliver this free breakfast program to about 500 students each fortnight. This all happens within the space of an hour, so we give our 3 x 4-slice toasters and our conveyor toaster a good workout. Many hands make light work, and if you’d like to join our band of merry helpers, please do let me know… we would love more Brekky Club Champions!

We’re looking forward to celebrating Chappy Week in week seven. We’ll have a finger-painting activity at both breaks on the Wednesday and Thursday. If you’re available to help at either break on either day, I would be so happy to hear from you!

It is such a privilege and a pleasure to share your children’s hurts and hopes. There are many students dealing with really big issues, and it’s just so important that they’re reaching out to talk and seek help. I’m currently supporting twenty-one students on a one-to-one basis, and speaking with many more students across the two days I’m here at school.

If you’re able to share your time, talent, and/or treasure (I have to fundraise to be here), please contact me on psimp47@eq.edu.au; you will be such a blessing to our school community!

Parent TV

5 Key Reasons Why our Kids No Longer Have Resilience

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficult or challenging situations. It is a quality that has long been valued and encouraged in children, as it helps them to overcome obstacles, build confidence, and develop a sense of self-reliance. However, in recent years, there has been growing concern about the declining resilience of children. Please open the link below for some of the key reasons why our kids no longer have resilience.

Student of the Week

Community Notices

Helping Hands

Caloundra State High School

Mountain Creek State High Rugby League Excellence

Growing Minds Check in

School Calendar

School Contact Details

ADDRESS:

PO Box 3707 Caloundra DC 4551
Talara Street, Currimundi 4551

CONTACTS:

P&C Association

P&C Meetings are held on Tuesday evening of Week 3 & 8 each term at 6:30pm.

Everyone is welcome. Please email secretary@talarapandc.com.au for further details.

Uniform Shop Hours

Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8:15am to 8:45am.

Tuckshop

Open daily Monday to Friday 8:30am to 1:35pm.

Parades (2:15pm)

Outside School Hours Care:

Helping Hands 0459 990 650.

Student Absences

Please remember to ring the school on our Student Absence Line (5438 3760) or send an SMS to our SMS Absence Line: (0474 195 135) otherwise a note to the teacher the next day is required.

Remember, all student absences need to be accounted for and any unexplained absences require the school to ring home to check. Accounting for student absences is a legal requirement for all schools. Your assistance in providing the relevant information to us regarding your child’s absences daily is appreciated.

Change of Details

• Have you bought a new mobile?
• Maybe started a new job?
• Moved house?

Please remember to update your details with the school, either via the Change of Details Form found on the side panel of this newsletter or drop us a line at info@talacollss.eq.edu.au