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This handbook in conjunction with our website is designed to provide an overview of our school including many of the procedures and guidelines that underpin our operations. We encourage the development of productive home-school relationships and invite you to visit the school to meet with the key personnel involved in your child’s education. All parents and care givers are invited to participate in the Parents and Citizens Association.
Parent-teacher consultation, both formal and informal promotes positive working relationships that support child learning. Parents and care givers are encouraged to discuss their child’s progress with teachers at mutually convenient times.
Gilston State School, with the support of its parent body and community, endeavours to fulfil the inherent potential of each child in its care.
Gilston State School opened in 1881 to service the needs of “Upper Nerang”. A replacement building on the Gilston Road site was opened in July, 1911. The school remained at that site with extra structures being added to accommodate the increased enrolments during the 1960s. By 1985 however, population growth had outstripped the facilities and capabilities of the ‘old’ school and a ‘new’ school was built on the present site on Worongary Road. Gilston State School, as it is now, was opened in 1986 and has the capacity to adapt to the changing needs of our Hinterland Community. In 1996 the P&C Association funded the refurbishment and relocation of the original school building from the Gilston Road site to its present position. It stands as a proud centrepiece of our school. As a constant reminder of Gilston State School’s origins, it allows the community to retain the feel and character of the small hinterland bush school – “The Green behind the Gold”.
Gilston State School encourages and promotes ‘Achievement Through Understanding’. Our school motto encapsulates the belief that our role is to provide opportunities for our students to develop the skills to become creative, healthy and informed citizens who can build positive relationships while accepting the shared responsibility for developing the attributes of a lifelong learner in their school life, their home life and in the wider community.
Our school enrols students from Preparatory Year to Year seven. A child may be enrolled if he/she reaches the age of four years on or before 30 June in the year prior to admission.
Parents are to complete enrolment procedures before admission occurs. Proof of date of birth is required for all enrolments.
If you change your place of living, phone number or place of work, or, if there is a change in your family situation, please advise the school as soon as possible as we rely on the accuracy of these details in cases of emergency.
If your child is going to leave the school, a transfer is required. Please advise the school office of your intention to leave.
Classes are created to meet the recommended ratios of 25:1 in Prep to Year 3 and 28:1 in Years 4-7. The physical structure of buildings supports cooperative and/or individual teaching approaches.
Our preference is for single year level roll classes however multi-age groups are created in response to enrolment needs.
8.55am Preparation Bell
9.00am - 11.00am First Session
11.40am - 1.40pm Second Session
2.10pm - 3.00pm Third Session
A newsletter is sent home weekly (usually Wednesday) with the youngest enrolled child in each family. It is the primary source of communication between school and home and contains details of coming events and activities. A copy of the newsletter is uploaded to the school website each week.
All students attend weekly assemblies (usually Thursday afternoon) that are led by the year seven students. These assemblies include the National Anthem, School Prayer, School Song, celebrations of achievements, performances by students and addresses by the Principal and Deputy Principal.
School Prayer
Lord Jesus, give us thankful hearts and keep us from grumbling in our home and school.
Help us to fit in with each other and keep us cheerful when things go wrong and our plans are upset.
May we grow in love and understanding of one another?
Amen.
School Song
Happy are our days at Gilston
We make friends to last for years
Together we will work and play
In sunshine, rain, through laughs and tears.
We will fight for what is right
Just watch us as our dreams unfold.
We’ll remember our proud motto
And the crest of green and gold.
Arrival and Departure of Students
Pupils are expected to arrive at school prior to 8.45am, but not before 8.00am. All children should have left the premises by 3.20pm, unless under the supervision of a teacher. Parents who drive children to school are requested to use the loading zone at the front of the school. Due care should be exercised during the delivery and collection of children as large numbers of vehicles and pedestrians congregate at these times. The car park inside the grounds is a designated staff car park, and is not for parental use.
Once a child has arrived at school, he/she is not permitted to leave the grounds before 3.00pm unless contact has been made by the school with the parent or care giver and student has been signed out.
If parents collect children prior to completion of the school day, an entry in the register in the office must be completed.
Absence from School and Late Arrivals
Parents are asked to advise the school by note or phone call, giving details, if a child is absent from school. A standard form for this purpose is available from the school office. Parents are also required to let the teacher know why a child is late to school.
If a child becomes too ill to continue work in the classroom, he/she is taken to the sick bay where rest facilities are available. If it appears that the child is not going to recover in a short time, every effort is then made to contact one of the parents to take the child home.
Sick children should not be sent to school.
In cases of accident, teachers act as would normal prudent parents. In most cases, first aid is administered at school, but in matters of urgency the Ambulance is contacted.
Parents and children must observe road safety regulations at all times.
Students are supervised in the collection zone and escorted to the buses in the afternoon.
Parents are requested to observe correct parking procedures when delivering children to school or collecting them in the afternoon.
Children may open and operate a savings account with the Commonwealth Bank through the school.
School Health Services personnel visit the school each year. During their visit hearing, sight and general medical examinations are conducted with children in Prep. Parents are invited to discuss results with the Sister or Doctor. Written reports are provided to support consultation with private G.P.s.
The School Dental Unit visits regularly. Dental work is carried out by qualified staff. Visits may be made to Dental Units wherever they are situated through the year so that continuing work can be carried out or dental problems checked. Alternatively, parents may choose to send their children to a private practice.
Money collections occur through the school office between 8.00am and 11.00am on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. EFTPOS facilities are available for adults
Our school believes that the most productive educational setting in which a child can be placed is one where the school and the parents share responsibility for the education and welfare of the child.
Parents are welcomed as partners, and are invited to take part in various activities.
Parents are welcome to be with their child/children in the classroom - assisting their child and other children - under the direction of the class teacher.
Parent days and evening sessions are held to inform parents concerning teaching methods and the organisation of the school.
Parents’ & Citizens’ Association
The role of this body is a forum for parents’ views on education in general, and this School in particular.
Its secondary role is to assist in providing materials, facilities and resources necessary for the functioning of our programs. The Gilston Club is the subcommittee that focuses on fund raising for additional resources.
Association funds are derived from our contribution scheme and several social functions conducted throughout the year. It also plays a vital role in establishing and maintaining community-school relations, and its advice is sought in all matters concerning the life of the school.
Our Tuckshop operates under the control of the P & C Association.
Full Tuckshop operates on Monday, Thursday and Friday only (Tuesday, if Monday is a public holiday). On Tuesday and Wednesday, the tuckshop is open at second break for the sale of ice blocks, chips and drinks.
Ordering at lunch time involves use of a paper bag - the name, class and order are written on the bag and money enclosed within. Orders are placed in receptacle provided at Tuckshop before 9.00am. Over the counter sales are restricted to years 1-7 for minor items.
These are taken as arranged each year. Parents will be notified through the Newsletter of the exact date. Children are to wear full school uniform for the photographs.
Gilston State School is a uniform school. We expect all children to wear our school uniform at school and when attending school excursions, trips and sporting events.
Colours: Green and Gold.
Boys Green/gold shirt with crest
Green shorts
White socks, green and gold bands
Black joggers/leather shoes
School hat
Girls Green/gold shirt with crest
Green shorts
Green/gold checked dress
White socks, green and gold bands
Black leather joggers/shoes
School hat
In Winter pupils wear green track pants and sloppy joe or jacket with school logo.
Uniforms are sold from the Uniform Store situated underneath the old school building on Tuesdays from 2.30pm to 3.30pm and Fridays from 8.30am to 9.30am.
All children are required to wear school hats while in the playground. NO HAT - NO PLAY! Sunshades are not considered to give sufficient protection. Suitable caps may be purchased from the Uniform Store. Sunscreen is a useful addition to the school requisite list.
Children are not to wear jewellery to school. The exceptions are watches and sleepers or studs for pierced ears. The school accepts no responsibility for loss of any jewellery including watches.
Our school is divided into four sporting houses named after pioneer settlers of the Gilston area - Duncan, Hinze, Zimmerman and Latimer. Children are allocated to houses on their enrolment at school.
William Duncan was born in Scotland in 1832 and migrated to Australia with his family in 1837. At the age of 14 he and another man, Edmund Harper, crossed the Tweed River into the Gold Coast Region in search of cedar. They are believed to be the first white men to have sighted the Gold Coast.
In 1854, at the age of 22, he married and, after years of wandering the valleys of the Gold Coast and Tweed regions cutting timber, he settled at Gilston on acreage in the early 1870’s.
Hinze
The first members of the pioneering Hinze family are believed to have settled in the Advancetown district where Carl and Johanna Hinze took up residence just over 120 years ago on what was to become the Hinze Dam site. Their home, a slab hut, was constructed near the current picnic area.
Many of the descendants of Carl and Johanna Hinze still live in the Nerang/Advancetown region. One of their grandchildren was the late RJ Hinze who was the member for South Coast and who was most instrumental in obtaining the current school site and school buildings several years ago.
Zimmerman
The Zimmerman family were one of the first families to settle in the area. They lived across the Nerang River about one mile above the hall near the Gilston Golf Course and the Mill’s dairy.
Mr Zimmerman also purchased land in the pocket at Numinbah Valley. The Zimmerman children, Henry and Billy, were on the first roll call at Gilston School. Henry and Billy became Bullock Drivers with their own teams hauling pine logs to Nerang.
Latimer
Tom Latimer built the second Arrowroot mill in the area in 1900 and ran it until 1918 at Latimer’s Crossing. After closing the Arrowroot mill they set up a dairy farm which was run by the family. Tom Latimer was capable with the technology of steam engines and was involved with a steam driven saw mill at Alstonville and one at Gilston. His brother Jim Latimer had an Arrowroot mill on the Nerang River off McLaren’s Road near Nerang and this mill closed in the 1970s.
Curriculum
Gilston School is a public school and offers the curriculum prepared by Education Queensland based on the Queensland Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Framework.
The eight key learning areas are:
Mathematics
English
Study of Society and the Environment
Science
Health and Physical Education
The Arts
LOTE (Language other than English) - Japanese
Technology
Local programs have been developed in response to the needs of our students.
Children are assessed formally and informally throughout the year. Observation of the child’s daily work is the major source of information.
Various assessment techniques are employed and discussions between Class Teachers and the Principal are also used to enable the teacher to obtain a complete picture of the academic and social achievements of each child.
These achievements are reported to parents at least twice a year. Parents are encouraged to discuss any matters which concern them with the Class Teacher or Principal at mutually convenient times.
It can be expected that your child will need to complete homework.
Homework activities can include:
Word recognition/spelling
Number facts
Reading
Preparation for oral presentations of lectures, projects, etc.
Completion of work
Reasonable time allocations:
Prep – Term 4 Home Readers
Years 1, 2 and 3 10 minutes
Years 4 and 5 20/30 minutes
Years 6 and 7 30 minutes
Because of individual differences in children, time taken to complete homework will vary.
Formal written homework is not considered to be appropriate for Year 1 and Year 2.
The parents’ role is seen as encouraging and supporting children in their home tasks.
A Special Needs Committee oversees the distribution of support available at our school. We aim to address the needs of children with learning difficulties, and/or a range of impairments and/or those with social and emotional needs.
This committee liaises closely with parents and teachers of students with specific needs so they may access services and support from within the school and those from outside agencies.
In accordance with the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 RE lessons of 30 minutes are offered weekly by groups who meet the entry requirements in the Act. On enrolment parents and carers nominate their choice of lesson from those on offer.
Information Communication Technology
Students live in a technological world where information and communication technologies (ICTs) are integral to everyday situations. Gilston State School makes every effort to provide opportunities for students to apply ICTs as a tool so they may become competent, discriminating, creative and productive users of ICT.
The library serves as a lending and reference library for the whole school. Children are welcome to borrow books both in class library time and during lunch breaks. Parents are responsible for the replacement or repair of any book lost or damaged by their child. We encourage children to borrow books so they can develop an appreciation of reading from an early age and hence improve their literacy skills.
Leadership is a pivotal focus of the upper school curriculum. The School Captains are elected by staff and students in Years 6 and 7 and represent all students in a range of activities throughout the year.
Sport House Captains are elected by students in Years 5, 6 and 7.
We have high expectations of our elected leaders.
During the school year, children may be involved in many activities related to their learning which involve visiting performers or speakers, or excursions outside the school setting. Many of these activities require funding from family sources. Attendance at these events is conditional on payment and on pupil behaviour.
