Newsletter: Term 2 - 2025

From the Principal

As we wrap up another vibrant and successful semester, it’s the perfect time to pause and celebrate the many achievements, events, and moments that have brought our school community together. From exciting learning experiences to memorable milestones, Term 2 has been a showcase of growth, effort, and joy across every year level.

A heartfelt thank you to our students, staff, and families for your energy, support, and contributions throughout the term. Wishing all our students a well-deserved and restful break — we can’t wait to see what they’ll achieve next semester!

Term 2 Highlights and Successes

Term 2 has been an exciting and rewarding chapter in our school year, filled with opportunities for our students to shine both in and out of the classroom. Here are just some of the wonderful things we’ve celebrated:

• Our Senior Dance Academy dazzled on stage at the Eisteddfod.
• Students from our school chess team proudly represented Buddina at an inter-school competition.
• Selected students took part in the Academic Decathlon, showcasing their knowledge and teamwork.
• Many students trialled for representative sport pathways at both regional and state levels.
• Our Senior Athletics Day was a great success, with outstanding participation and sportsmanship.
• Netball and rugby league teams enjoyed competing at inter-school carnivals.
• Students embraced Japanese culture during the Wasabi Kids experience.
• We celebrated Walk to School Day—a little delayed thanks to the rain, but no less fun!
• A variety of excursions and incursions enriched learning across year levels.
• After-school art classes continued to thrive, fostering creativity and expression.
• Our Prep to Year 2 students had a fantastic time celebrating Under 8s Day, highlighting the joy of learning in the early years.
• The P&C Disco brought the whole school community together for a night of fun, dancing, and connection — a huge thank you to our P&C and volunteers for making it such a success!

Thank you to all staff, students, and families for making Term 2 so memorable. We look forward to an equally exciting Term 3!

Sleep Out

On Thursday 12 June, several Year 6 students and teachers took part in a sleep-out in the school hall as part of the Vinnies Winter Appeal. A representative from St Vincent de Paul visited to speak with the students about the importance of the Winter Appeal and how we, as a community, can support those doing it tough during the colder months.  During the evening, students assembled Dignity Bags, which will be distributed by St Vinnies to members of our community in need of a 'hand up'. This experience was a powerful and meaningful opportunity for our students to give back and make a real difference.

Attendance

Please be reminded that every day at school counts and our school target for attendance is 93%. We understand that children will be absent from school as they are unwell or due to weather events.

Our current attendance rate is 92.3% (up 1.3% from last year).  The below table shows our attendance from week 1-9 this term:  

Report Cards

Semester One report cards will be available at the end of this term.  We will be e-mailing parents and caregivers their child/ren’s report cards.  We understand that some parents will need a paper copy due to not having access to e-mails.  Those parents or caregivers will need to make contact with the office to request a copy. In order for this to happen please check the following:

• We have your correct e-mail address

• Add Application.ONESCHOOL@qed.qld.gov.au to your list of safe senders to ensure report card emails aren’t sent to the Junk folder

School Improvement Agenda – Achievements

At Buddina State School, our School Improvement Agenda is built on one clear goal: every child succeeding and included. We are proud of the strong progress we’ve made across our three focus areas — Belonging, Engagement, and Learning — and it’s important to take a moment to celebrate the collective efforts of our students, staff, and community.

We’ve seen fantastic growth in all three focus areas. Some highlights include:

Belonging: (Results from student zones of regulation survey)

• 90.3% of students feel like they have a range of things they are good at
• 90.3% of students respect/accept people who think differently about things to me
• 78.3% of students feel comfortable using a strategy to calm myself down when I'm a little out of control (In the yellow zone)

Engagement:

• 92.3% attendance
• 99% of students identified what caring for yourself looks like
• 2.87 majors/per week
• 6.5 minors/per week

Learning: (Results from student grades)

• 93.4% A-C English, 66% A/B English
• 99.2% A-C Effort Mark English
• 95.2% A-C Math 76.6 % A/B Math
• 99.5% A-C Effort Mark 

These results reflect the hard work, dedication, and partnership of our students, staff, families, and wider community. Thank you for supporting our vision — and well done, Buddina!

We’re excited to continue building on this success in Semester 2.

Mr Russell Thompson
Principal

Prep - Year 3 News

Well, we made it to the mid-point of the year…and…report cards. Parents, this is a time to celebrate your child’s learning journey! They have worked hard to achieve their results. Take the time to talk with them about what they have been learning about? What has been their learning goal they were focussing on? Do they have a goal for next term? Kids, enjoy unwinding and some downtime! Families, stay safe over the winter break and we will see you all back ready to go for Term 3.

Under Eights Day

What a morning! Our Preps, Year 1s and Year 2s, not to mention our Buddina Playgroup (and neighbouring Good Start kindy group all had an amazing time exploring all of the activities. Congratulations to all of our staff and senior students that were involved in running activities – they were all a hit!!! Thank you to all our Buddina families that were able to take part and support the event. A huge thank you to all of our invited guests that were able to come along and support – Buddina P&C, Motiv8 Sports, Matt Fiddes Martial Arts, Emergency Services - Ambulance, Fire, Police and Surf Lifesaving, Clippers Basketball - checkout their website for holiday programs, Helping Hands…and the team from Be Right Back Coffee Co for keeping all the adults fuelled.

Mr Joshua Gooderham,
Deputy Principal 

Under 8's Day 2025

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YEAR 2 Incursion - Urban Reptiles

During Term 2, Year 2 have been learning about different animal habitats, diet and threats. We were lucky enough to experience an incursion hosted by Urban Reptiles, where students were able to learn more about all things reptiles. Students consolidated their in-class learning about reptile habitats, diet, features and threats and had the opportunity to pat each of the animals including lizards, snakes and turtles.

Year 4 - 6 News

2025 Cycle Skills Program (Year 4) 

Buddina State School is very fortunate to be part of the RideScore - Active Schools Program in 2025 and as a result all Year 4 students will be receiving a free Cycle Skills session.

RideScore Active Schools is a program delivered by the Sunshine Coast Council in partnership with We Ride Australia that encourages more children to ride and scoot to school. Participants in RideScore receive a Bluetooth beacon that is placed on a student’s bike or scooter that provides a real time notification to parents on the arrival and departure of their child.  The incentive-based program consists of a variety of active travel days throughout the year and also includes the delivery of a practical Cycle Skills session to all Students in Year 4. We encourage all students to register for RideScore but you do not have to be registered on RideScore to receive the Year 4 Cycle Skills session. 

Local company Bike On will be delivering Year 4 Cycle Skills and they are specialists in delivering these programs to Primary School Students in QLD. They will be at Buddina State School on Thursday 17 July & Friday 18 July 2025 & will be conducting the Cycle Skills Program for Year 4 Students.

The Program consists of a practical cycle skills session which will cover an Introduction to Riding along with Basic Road Awareness.  Delivering formal cycling training provides students at a young age with the road sense and skills to travel confidently on the road. The program aims to motivate students to ride their bikes more frequently with improved traffic awareness to keep them safer.  

New Flags

It was an honour to welcome Andrew Wallace MP to our school on Tuesday 10 of May when he presented our student leaders with new flags.  Thank you, Andrew, for both the flags and your visit.  We are very appreciative. 

School Based Police Officer

This term, our Year 5 classes were fortunate to have our local School Based Police Officer visit their classrooms.  During the visits students were engaged in an informative session regarding the following topics:

• Caring for our Community (Graffiti prevention and reporting)
• Cyber Safety
• E-Scooter & E-Bike Safety and Regulations.

We encourage you to visit https://streetsmarts.initiatives.qld.gov.au/pmd/get-the-facts/ for further information. 

We thank Senior Constable Simpson for sharing his time, knowledge and supporting our school community.

Mrs Veronica Reid
Deputy Principal

From the First Aid Room

At our school, we are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment for every student. We would like to inform our school community that some of our students live with serious medical conditions or are immunosuppressed. This means their immune systems are not as strong, and they are more vulnerable to infections that may be mild for others but can cause serious illness for them.

Common viruses and illnesses such as colds, gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhoea), as well as more serious infections like measles, chickenpox, shingles, and hand, foot and mouth disease, can pose significant health risks to these students.

To help keep all members of our community safe, we kindly ask that you notify the school immediately if your child is diagnosed with or has been exposed to any of the following:

• Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

• Measles

• Chickenpox or Shingles

• Meningococcal Disease

In some cases, preventative medication can be administered, but this must be given as soon as possible after potential exposure to be effective.

As always, we ask that children who are unwell stay at home until they are fully recovered. Please remember to inform the school of absences via the absentee line, QParents, or by responding to SMS notifications.

Please be assured that your child is not at any risk due to the presence of immunosuppressed students at the school. Your cooperation helps us protect the health and wellbeing of all students—thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Medication 

Should your child require any medication to be administered at school or at a school activity (including over-the-counter medications) i.e., Panadol, antihistamines etc., Doctor’s forms must be completed, and the medication must be labelled by a qualified health professional with the:

• Doctor’s Name
• Child’s Name
• Dosage times and amounts

Please Note:  Pharmacists are not prescribers of medication, only dispensers of medication, therefore their name cannot be on the label.

The doctor, dentist, paediatrician (qualified health professional) must provide a letter, with instructions as to dosage times and amounts, or fill out a Health Practitioner form.  

For asthma, anaphylaxis, eczema and severe allergic reactions, a doctor completes an ASCIA action plan, which complies with all the above requirements.

When medication is brought in to school, parents and caregivers are required to sign a consent form for each medication. 

Parent First Aid Telephone Contact

Please ensure that you supply the school with the most up-to-date and relevant phone details so we can immediately contact the appropriate parent when a student is sick.  It can be quite stressful for our students if they are sick and their parent cannot be contacted.

Inclusion Education Team

ICAS

Buddina State School is excited to take part in the internationally recognised ICAS competition this year.

What is ICAS?

ICAS is a prestigious online academic competition that challenges students to demonstrate their higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills across a range of subjects, including English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.

The competition celebrates student achievement by offering recognition and valuable feedback. All participants will receive a printed certificate and an online results report, with top achievers eligible to receive medals.

Please click on the link below for more information or  click here visit the website. 

Writing Competiton 

We’re excited to share that the Telling Stories Writing Competition, hosted by Mooloolaba Rotary and UniSC, is celebrating its 10th year!

This wonderful opportunity is open to all students from Year 4 to Year 12 across the Sunshine Coast and Hinterland. With cash prizes, publishing opportunities, and even a Youth Membership to the Queensland Writers Centre for senior students, it’s a fantastic chance for young storytellers to shine.

This year’s theme is ‘Let’s Celebrate!’, and entries will be judged anonymously by UniSC’s Creative Writing Program staff.

There is no limit to how many students can enter, and all entries will be uploaded by the school. Please hand them in to the office or your class teacher.

Davinci Decathlon – Sunshine Coast Grammar

On 7 May 2025, sixteen of our brightest Year 5 and 6 students competed in the Da Vinci Decathlon at Sunshine Coast Grammar. It was a fun and enriching experience, as like-minded students were challenged across ten subject areas, including Legacy, Cartography, Art and Poetry, Coding, Engineering, Mathematics, Ideation, Creative Producers, and more.

Congratulations to all students who represented our school with grace, perseverance, and integrity, and who worked diligently in teams of eight to solve problems centred around the theme of sustainability.

A special congratulations to our Year 6 team, who came 2nd overall for their age group after placing in three subject areas:

• 3rd in Creative Producers

• 1st in Cartography

• 3rd in Code Breaking

A big thank you to Mrs Aleta Chapman, Mr Martin, and Mr Martin’s mum, who assisted in training the teams each Thursday during the term, as well as supporting with marking and supervision on the day. Thank you also to all the parents who helped transport students to and from the event.

Sport

Buddina Senior Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to all our senior students who took part in the Athletics Carnival during week eight. It was great to see everyone out there, doing their best, encouraging one another and having lots of fun! We had some fantastic results and are now looking forward to taking our Buddina school team to the district carnival next term in week two. A huge thank you to our student leaders for their help on the day and their leadership throughout the carnival. Well done to the students below for their top three finishes in their age group and to the mighty Marlins for claiming overall winning house.

Interschool Sport

Our year five and six students will participate in the Interschool Sport program next term. The dates for this are Friday July 18^th Friday August 1^st and Friday August 8^th. Students have selected their sports at school. We will depart school each day at 9:00am and return at approximately 2:30pm. Please ensure children come to school fully prepared on these days with adequate food, water, hats, school uniforms and any necessary playing equipment (mouthguards are mandatory for AFL and Rugby league and shin pads for soccer. Spare shin pads will be available for soccer students who need them). Jerseys and bibs will also be provided by the school for netball, AFL and rugby league. No canteen will be available on these days. Please ensure all online permission and payments have been finalised before the start date.

Representative Sport

Congratulations to the following students for their success in school representative sport. Well done to everyone who has now competed at the various regional and state carnivals and best of luck to those students who will be competing soon.

Sunshine Coast Regional AFL team: Zahlee S and Kai H

Sunshine Coast Regional Touch Football Team: Frank S, Zahlee S and Jahlia H

Sunshine Coast Regional Boys Rugby League Team: Juju N, Parker P and Kolbe K

Sunshine Coast Regional Cross Country Team: Kolbe K and India T

Coastal District Cross Country Team: Kolbe K, Kai T, Elke T and India T

Coastal District Girls Rugby League Team: Zahlee S and Jahlia H

Coastal District Touch Football Team: Kolbe K, Frank S, Zahlee S and Jahlia H

Junior Sport Day

Our Junior Sports Day (Prep- Year 3) will be held on Tuesday August 12^th. A program of events and activities will be sent out next term.

Regards
Mr Wickham and Mr Gripske

Japanese

Term 2 has been full of exciting activities for students studying Japanese at Buddina!

Year 3 students have been working hard to complete their All About Me Kimono posters – keep an eye out for them in school bags early next term.

Year 4 students have completed their In My School Bag unit. They created mini books and had fun reading them to Sensei while being recorded.

Year 5 students enjoyed the opportunity to teach Mr Gooderham various questions and answers in Japanese. They also successfully researched and conducted interviews with their favourite athletes. The results were impressive – we definitely have some future journalists and sports presenters in our midst!

Year 6 students have had a blast learning about sumo. They created mini books, played Kami Sumo (paper sumo), and even made their own signature prints – just like real rikishi (sumo wrestlers).

Students in Years 3 to 6 also enjoyed a special Ninja and Samurai show presented by Wasabi Kids on 28 May. We’re looking forward to seeing Taro the puppet back again next year. Aiko was very impressed with the students’ behaviour and engagement. This was a wonderful activity to complement our Japanese curriculum.

Ninja and Samurai Show

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Biggest Buddina Buddy Picnic

On 26 May, we held our first Biggest Buddina Buddy Picnic during fruit break to raise money for the Cancer Council. Dressed in a splash of yellow, we headed to the oval for a picnic with our buddy classes.

Thanks to our incredibly generous families, our school raised a whopping $1,963! This amazing amount equates to 16 days of PhD research, 26 support calls to trained professionals, or 1,226 students receiving sun safety education.

We’re all getting excited about our Japanese visitors arriving on 6 August! Buddies for Years 3, 4, and 5 will be chosen early in Term 3 – stay tuned for more information.

Lastly, I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been successful in securing a travel grant from the Queensland Centre for Japanese Studies. I’ll be spending five weeks in Japan over the summer holidays, studying Japanese at GenkiJACS Language School.

Mrs Jodie Buddle
Japanese Teacher

St Vinnies Winter Appeal

On Thursday 12 June, Year 6 students chose to participate in the St Vinnies Winter Appeal. Students arrived at 6 pm dressed in their warm clothes and brought along their bedding ready for the evening.

Kate, Education Officer of St Vinnies and Maria, St Vinnies Kawana came along to talk to the students about what it is like to be homeless. We also participated in activities aimed at giving us an idea of what homeless people would have to endure. Learning about the different types of homelessness was eye-opening and educational.

Towards the end of the evening, we packed dignity bags for men, women and babies with items which were generously donated by Buddina SS community. Students then slept in the school hall to simulate sleeping rough. It was a very cold night even though we were inside a building. Leaving with a new perspective on sleeping rough, we went to our warm homes to get ready for school.

Written by Carla and Samantha, Yr 6 students

Chess

Twenty-six of our students took part in the Sunshine Coast Individuals Age Championships, in a fun and challenging day of five hours of chess.

In the Under 8 section, for the little and new ones, Luca P, a Preppie, was awarded a Merit Ribbon scoring 4.5 out of 7 Pts. Along with Alexa A they point to more good things to come.

In the U10 section, with 112 competitors, Vincent G was placed 6^th (5.5/7) and Archie P 8^th (5/7).

Jared G, Banks M and Sasha H 4.5/7 received Merit Ribbons. Alfred B, Aidan D, Annabelle M, Max W, Hannah D, Beni F, Ty P, William M and Sadie J made for a great term performance.

In the U12 section Felix L once again showed he performs his best when in the big competitions. He and Noah L scored 5/7, awarded Merits. Thay were supported by a good squad of Billy G, Zara C, Samantha M, Hanna A, Bento F and Kate D.

Well done Everyone. You all looked so good on the day!

Save the Date

 Buddina Colour Fun Run – Raising Funds for Our Chaplaincy Service!

Get ready Buddina families – the Colour Fun Run is coming Friday, 29th August (Week 7, Term 3)!
All students are invited to participate in this exciting, colourful event to help raise funds for our amazing Chaplain, Chappy Scott Carol. Chappy Scott plays a vital role in our school, helping students feel safe and connected, supporting their wellbeing, and encouraging growth through conversations, sport, and social engagement.

💰 Fundraising for a Great Cause

We’ll be raising money online, with full details to be shared in Week 1 of Term 3 via the Parent Update and our Facebook page.

🎁 Just a $10 donation gets students a prize — and everyone who participates will receive a headband and sunglasses on the day!

🎉 Fun, Slime & Colour!

In the lead-up, we'll build excitement with parade promotions, crazy costumes, and lunchtime opportunities to get your own back on Mr Thompson and the Deputy Principals — yes, students will get to throw slime and colour bombs at them!

Then on Friday 29th August, the school oval will come alive as students dash through our vibrant Fun Run track, getting doused in genuine, non-toxic Colour Powder and Foam. It's going to be a spectacular explosion of colour and laughter!

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Parents – We Need You!

You're warmly invited to come watch the fun and volunteer — especially if you'd like the chance to colour-blast your own kids as they run past!

Keep an eye out in Week 1 of Term 3 for promo events and registration info.
Let’s come together to support our Chaplaincy Program in the most colourful way possible!