Welcome back to Rainbow Beach State School for 2016

This year we welcome two new teachers. Eryn Truin is our new music teacher, she has transferred down from Rockhampton and will be based at our school.

We have also swapped languages from German to Japanese. Michael O’Neill from Gympie High will be travelling out each Thursday to teach the kids in the 5/6 class.

Come along 5pm on Tuesday, December 2 at Rainbow Beach State School for a relaxed event to start the year off. It’s a great opportunity to meet teachers, P&C members and new families to the school.

Whether you have just moved to the area or your kids have been at the school for years – please join in the fun.

The Kitchen Garden gets bigger and better!

by Ronnie Timperon and Debbie Gardiner, 0413 135 867 or ronniet@chappy.org.au

Thanks to the installation of a timed irrigation system during the school holidays, the garden beds, orchard and bush tucker garden have remained alive during the recent hot weather and will ease the workload of continual watering in the future.

Also helping is Jason Davies, a former chef, who owns a small acreage at Kin Kin where he has established organic vegetable gardens and food forests.

With his degree in permaculture to draw upon, he teaches people how to garden sustainably without using herbicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilisers.

Jason has developed a monthly planting and maintenance schedule for the garden and we will be learning and passing on to the students many new skills, such as how to use every available square metre of ground by planting strawberries and herbs amongst the existing garden beds.

We will also be saving seeds in a ‘seed bank’ which can then be used for future plantings, thus saving money. Composting, maintenance of worm farms, the creation of a ‘food forest’ and regular cooking classes will also be part of the weekly classes.

Donations of reinforcing mesh to create trellises for edible vines, garden tools, seedlings and seeds would be greatly appreciated.

We had two dedicated parent volunteers last year in Kerry and Dee who helped out each week with classes, but as they have both moved on, we are hoping to source some more volunteers.

For any home gardeners who are interested, Jason’s website is a great source of inspiration and can be found at: www.theorganicardener.com.au

P&C News

Look out for the Gotchya wheel, it is now back at assemblies – rewarding kids for fantastic behaviour with local vouchers and prizes! Thanks to all the businesses involved.

After quotes from outdoor chairs and tables were received, there was a unanimous decision made for Ian Webb and the Work For The Dole program to build eight picnic tables funded by the P&C and $1000 donated by Rainbow Festival (Progress Association). Thank you!

The current committee will be stepping down so now is a perfect time to give nominations or ask any questions about what is involved. Being part of the P&C team is a very rewarding role. It is great to be a part of helping the students achieve their wishlists of things at school.

Without our fundraising efforts, many activities would not be subsidised or in some cases would not happen at all. Please ask around and encourage anyone you think would be great on the P&C committee to put in their nomination.