THANK YOU: As we approach the school holidays, I would like to thank families for being so supportive this term. It has been fantastic to see parents coming along to school events to participate in activities or cheer their child on. It means a great deal to your child when you are able to attend special days at school. We really enjoy having our families join us for these events and Sports Days last week was a great example -I hope those parents and caregivers who joined in the activities were not feeling too sore afterwards!

Thank you, parents and caregivers, for keeping your child home whenever they have been unwell. It has certainly been a challenging term with high numbers of student and staff sickness. We have had to combine classes at times, when we have not been able to replace staff. Our students have managed these changes very well and I thank our staff for their flexibility and resilience during these challenging times.

SPORTS DAY: Students worked with Coach Tim and our wonderful classroom staff to prepare for our annual Sports Day. Last Friday we were blessed with perfect weather, and lots of enthusiastic, happy faces. A big thank you to the staff who made this day happen - our Sport’s coordinators Miss Jennie and Mr Dale for their planning, organisation and running the day, as well as all of our classroom staff who helped set up, pack away and supported their students throughout the day. Sports Day is one of the best days of the year, where no matter what your ability, having a go is the main criteria for success!

REPORT CARDS: Report cards will be emailed to families this Wednesday June 19^th.

Please check your junk emails as sometimes your email system does not recognise the email which comes from OneSchool, not our email address. If you do not receive this important email by Friday this week, please contact our office on 5480 2333 to let us know and request your child’s Report Card.

 If any parents would like a parent teacher interview, these can be arranged as part of the Semester 2 ICP meetings for those students in Years P to 10 or as a separate meeting for Years 11 and 12.

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEY: The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted in Term 3 and will close on Friday 16th August 2024. All families, school staff and students are invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what our school does well, and how we can improve.

An invitation to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey will be emailed to one parent/caregiver per family in the week beginning Monday 22 July.  The invitation will be sent from the Department of Education, not the school, and it will have the subject line School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2024.  Check your junk email folders if you can’t find it.  The survey can be completed as soon as the invitation is received and will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone. 

Parents/caregivers who do not have access to the internet at home are welcome to complete their survey online at the school. School computers/tablets will be available.

YEAR 12 GRADUATION:

The last day of attendance for our Year 12 students this year, is Friday 15^th November. We will be holding a morning graduation ceremony in our Performing Arts Room on Friday 15^th November, followed by a morning tea for our graduating students and their families. The Year 12 Formal Graduation Dinner event will be held later that same day.

Final date for student attendance for Year 11 and 10: Friday 22^nd November is the final date for attendance for Years 10 and 11 for 2024.

It is absolutely unbelievable we are half way through the year already. The end of this term marks a full year for me at GSS. I can not be happier in my job and would like to thank students, staff and the school community for welcoming me into their close family.

Quick reminder of PBL Rewards day this Friday (21^st). We will again see the huuuuge inflatables on our oval and look forward to seeing the smiles on our students faces. I would like to encourage parents to come along on Friday and witness the joy PBL Rewards Day brings!

Our student council will have their first meeting in week two next term. Student council members will discuss and choose term 3’s PBL Rewards day activity, as well as decide on rewards that will be placed in our Ardy prize box on parade. Student influence in these decisions is a focus for us in order to empower and ensure ownership of positive behaviours demonstrated in our school.

I would like to thank our sports coordinators Jennie and Dale for organising a successful and engaging sports day. Thank you to all the family members that could make it and I am sure you had as much fun as we did.

In term 3 we will be holding a ‘new staff information afternoon’ session. This is for members of the community that would like more information around our school with an interest in any cleaner, Teacher-aide, teaching or support jobs in the future. Please keep an eye out on the school calendar for more information.

A quick reminder that our P&C are looking for new members, please contact the school if this might be something you are interested in.

Thanks,

Phil

Dear Gympie Special School Community,

As we conclude Term 2, I am thrilled to report that we have had a fantastic term! I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all students, parents, and teachers for their ongoing commitment and dedication. Your support and hard work have made this term truly remarkable.

This has been a busy term filled with assessments and reporting. I hope parents enjoy reading about the incredible successes their children have achieved when the reports are emailed out. The progress and achievements of our students have been nothing short of spectacular.

Throughout the term, we have hosted a number of events that showcased the talents and hard work of our students. These events have brought our school community together and highlighted the wonderful spirit and enthusiasm of our students.

As we head into the holiday break, I hope everyone has a restful and enjoyable time. Recharge and relax, as we have exciting plans for Term 3.

Here’s a glimpse of what’s coming up:

Health and Physical Education (HPE): We will be learning about body parts and the anatomical names of our body parts.

Science: Get ready for some exciting chemical experiments and exploring the changes that happen when we mix materials.

English: Our focus will be on informative texts, enhancing students' reading and comprehension skills.

Mathematics: We will be delving into numbers and time, building a strong foundation in these essential areas.

Design Technology and Visual Arts: Students will have hands-on experiences creating various items, fostering creativity and innovation.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank my incredible team. Your dedication and passion have been instrumental in making this term a success. Enjoy your well-deserved break, rest nicely, and I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for another engaging term.

Have a wonderful holiday, and thank you for the great term we have had. See you next term!

Warm regards,

Kate

This month the cooling down of the temperature and no rain has meant playtime in the playground has been so much fun. It’s lovely to be out in the sunshine.

The children have been busy practising their jumping and throwing with Coach Tim and having lots of fun. Sports day was a great day-going next door to the High School to run on the oval was exciting and having parents there to watch and everyone cheering made it all the more exciting. We loved it!

At our Early Year’s parades all the children in the class have now been presented with their bronze Ardy certificates. Well-done to you all. All of them have also received Student of the Week certificates over the last few weeks for following the school expectations of being safe, respectful learners.

In class we are enjoying our literacy activities. Everyone enjoyed “Wombat Stew” when it was our book of the week. We used props to follow along with the story and added things to our pot to make a yucky stew. Another favourite story has been “Snore” and using the toy animals as we read along and snoring like the dog makes us laugh. We continue to practise how to form our letters correctly on the interactive whiteboard, saying a little rhyme as we go. For example, (Hook and down, then straight across. for f)

In maths we have been playing with playdough and making birthday cakes with coloured paddle pop sticks, counting as we put them in. We’ve also been making towers out of duplo and unifix cubes to match a number.

The Teddy Bears Picnic was wonderful. Everyone had lots of fun and we were happy to have so many of our families there to share it with.

The holidays are fast approaching and I think the little people will appreciate some time at home recharging their batteries. It has been a wonderful, busy term full of activity and learning.

Till next time-that’s all from Early Years 1.

Lynne, Kate, Marky, Jake, Rose, Jace, Isabelle.

Dear Parents and Carers, 

As Term 2 comes to an end, we can celebrate the students' achievements in their first semester of prep. All students will receive their reports by the end of term and Miss Kelsey, Miss Leanne and I are SUPER proud of each and every one of them!

Each student has not only done well with their academic achievements, but also with their ability to follow rules and routines, how they interact socially with their peers and also how they've learnt to become more independent in their health and hygiene skills. 

We had a challenging term with lots of expected and unexpected changes.  On the whole, all students showed resilience with their ability to adapt to change. We missed Miss Kelsey as she took a huge step in her life journey by getting married and enjoying her honeymoon in NEW ZEALAND! All the students were incredibly happy and excited when she returned as were Miss Leanne and I. 

It is with a very heavy heart that I let you know that I will need to have Term 3 off for treatment. I had hoped to work part-time but unfortunately it isn't possible with the treatment I need. I am working with Miss Sarah, our Principal hard to get a great (if not better replacement) for that time to ensure our students have all the love, support, care and attention they require in my absence. However, we know that Miss Kelsey will always be that person in my absence, and she'll provide consistency for our students'. 

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday.

EY2

Miss Cassie, Miss Kelsey and Miss Leanne

This term we said good bye and good luck to Miss Karen (EY3’s Wednesday to Friday teacher aid) and welcomed Miss Neirda who will join our class full time next term.

My Gosh! How fast has the term flown by. Semester 2 has come to a close with a bang: Sports day. EY3 had been practicing their running, throwing and jumping during weekly sessions with Coach Tim (defiantly a highlight of the week). This coming Friday will be the long-anticipated Reward Day inflatable obstacle course.

As the term comes to a close, we reflect on all the amazing learning and accomplishments we have achieved. Some highlights include book of the week activities such as: Aliens love underpants: where we decorated underpants and chose other clothing aliens might like to wear, Muddled up farm where we used talking buttons to make the sounds of quacking cows and woofing ducks and Brown Bear What do you see, where we used the ipad app clicker sentences to write our predictable chart sentences.

In maths we have been playing with playdough and making apple trees where we squash the playdough apples as we count them. We’ve also been making towers out of duplo and unifix cubes to match a number and interactive number games and songs.

The Teddy Bears Picnic was a wonderful afternoon with great weather and yummy treats. Everyone had lots of fun and we were happy to have so many of our families there to share it with.

It has been a wonderful, busy term full of activity and learning. I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing holiday. See you next term.

EY3 (Miss Erin, Miss Neirda and students)

So much has happened since the last newsletter! We loved getting together for the EY’s Teddy Bears picnic. It was so nice to see students, parents and staff interacting and enjoying the playground and food. The students continue to mention the picnic regularly in class with excitement and joy. Thank you to all the parents who attended to make this such a rememberable event for the children.

We have also had Gympie Special School Sports Day and what a huge success that was! Every year I am astounded by the students and again this year I was so impressed and proud of the students taking part and putting so much effort into running, discus, shotput and long jump. Thank you to all the parents who made the event special by cheering on every student. It would not feel the same without you all.

EY4 students joined together with some of the other EYs students to take part in an interactive reading of ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’. Thank you to ‘Sunshine Linus’ for making the interactive story blanket. The students loved the blanket and climbing over and under the soft play obstacles and joining in the repetitive aspects of the book both verbally and with PODD and Proloquo2Go.

This week we have PBL rewards day on the last day of school and parents are more than welcome, in fact encouraged, to join in the fun on the inflatables! EY’s have their turn at 9:30am – 10am and again at 12-12:30pm.

Trista and Codie wish you a happy holidays.

It has been a massive first semester of learning that felt like it zoomed by all too quickly. In P1 over the last couple of weeks we have been working hard getting our end of semester assessment tasks completed. We did have time to squeeze in some fun stuff like creating a bower bird bower to go along with the National Reading Day book Bowerbird Blues.

We also had some fun preparing for Sports Day by tie dyeing some shirts and socks in our house colours in the days before we competed. Our washing sure looked fantastic and colourful hanging outside our room while it dried.

Sports Day was a lot of fun, and we loved giving it a go, even if some of us were exhausted by the end of the day. The cheering sure helped us dig a bit deeper to finish our races and other events. A big thanks to all the parents who came along to be part of the cheer squad.

And here we are, at the end of Term 2!!! What a lot of learning, socialising, problem solving, creating, and obviously FUN we had this term. We, Andrea and Carina, are so proud of the students in P2’s achievements and how they have become so much more responsible and emotionally mature.

We successfully completed our units of work for English, Mathematics and HPE, and if I look at the photos of students taken during Dance, Science, Technology and HASS it looks like they have also achieved what was needed. Great job to all!!

We just had our Sports Day last Friday and the students all had fun participating. Thanks to the parents who came to share the day with us.

We are looking forward to a new and exciting Term 3!

Enjoy the break.

Carina and Andrea

P3 has had a huge Term, it has been so much fun. We have practiced our Athletic Skills each week with Coach Tim. We visited Auntie Christine and learnt some more of the Gubbi Gubbi language. We have experimented with ideas for our Art Action class piece. We have had Sports Day and we have managed to fit in some learning too!

In English we have loved listening to a new story each week. There are definitely some favourite stories and moments that we have had. Especially the week when we read Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy. That Cat!!! Oh, how he made us jump!

In Maths we have enjoyed working out which is our classes favourite fruit. It’s apples, not bananas! Sorting objects and classifying them by colour has been another enjoyable activity. It’s been great to see everyone working hard and learning.

Sports Day last week was a great day. The girls in our class worked hard and completed every activity on the day. Coach Tim’s sessions paid off as everyone who attended did very well.

Best wishes,

Miss Jennie and Miss Bree

Hello to our P4 Parents and Carers,

We are very excited in our classroom as we have two students that have achieved their ‘Silver Awards.” Congratulations Maddie and Arley.

I would like to introduce our new student Koby to our room. He has settled in well, especially during Mathematics as he whizzes through his work. The sandpit is also a favourite place, along with his new friends, who are making sandcastles, giant holes and looking for treasure.

This week, our book of the week focus is, “Room on the Broom.” This is a wonderful book about accepting and making room for friends. We have had a lot of fun with this title.

Coach Tim has been working closely with us all to fine tune our athletics skills. Sports day was a huge success with all students showcasing their athletics skills.

Enjoy the break, see you next term,

Maddie, Koby, Arley, Daniel, Chris, Rose, Mr Darren, Miss Jas and Miss Deb.

The wonderful students of S1 have been working diligently and co-operatively in all subject areas.

Making our delicious scones was a real team effort. We measured, mixed, cut and cooked. Taking turns and helping each other was very important….our scones rocked!   

In Mathematics, the students have been writing one step addition and subtraction word problems and solving equations. Here is one example: Locklan had 10 watermelons in a huge bowl. He used 7 watermelons to feed to his elephants. How many watermelons does he now have? 10 – 7 = 3 Locklan now has 3 watermelons!

In English, the students enjoyed listening to the story ‘Rufus At The Vet’, a Harry McClary story, our book of the week. They then built a flowchart by drawing pictures of the sequence of events of the story. All students did a fantastic job!

Sports’ Day was greatly enjoyed and the students showed pride for their team by participating fully in all events and showing great sportsmanship!

We look forward to a well earned break.

From the S1 Team, Miss Naomi, Mr Josh and Mrs Gaelle

Semester 2 has already come to an end and what a great semester it has been. This term has been full of learning, excursions and other activities including the parent visit, sports day and the Gympie show.

The students loved making scones for the parent visit and all students could take part in the baking process. Students, parents and teachers enjoyed the scones after a performance by the school choir and games on the oval.

Earlier in the term we visited the Gympie show. All the students were safe and respectful while we took a stroll around the showgrounds, firstly looking at the award-winning chickens and roosters, followed by watching the horses jump over hurdles, and later the farm tractor races. 

Our athletics carnival was at the end of week 9 and involved the students participating in races, long jump, javelin, discus and other activities. It was a great day with students of all different abilities taking part in the activities and encouraging each other through cheering and house chants.

We hope you have a happy and healthy holiday and look forward to seeing everyone back at school for Term 3.

Warmest Regards,

Mr. Declan, Cody, Leni, Rebekah, Hayley, Mia, Mason, Miss Sabana

We have been engaged in lots of learning over the past few weeks and enjoyed making scones for our Parent Visit on Friday of Week 8. Choir members performed for their parents/carers by singing and signing, “Home Among the Gum Trees.” It was a lovely performance led by Miss Andy, with all the audience joining in by clapping the last verse. We then went down to the oval to show some of the dodging games we have been playing this term. All students involved, played respectfully and safely. We have been practising our athletics events all term, with Coach Tim, culminating in our Sports Day last Friday. Lots of fun was had and some very good efforts and results achieved. We hope you have a safe, happy and healthy holiday and come back to school well rested and ready for learning in Semester 2.

Warmest regards,

Libby, Jas, Laila, Riley, Tyler, Jaxson, Rosie.

S4 had an amazing time at the Gympie Show.  The students were extremely well behaved and mature, staying with the group, waiting their turn appropriately, always using their manners and were all-round exemplary young adults!  They all really enjoyed seeing the amazing products, including the lego, cakes, dioramas, animals and they even got to see Mater from the movie Cars!  At school we’ve also had loads of fun preparing for the Parent Visit baking scones.  A big thank you to parents, family and carers coming to spend time with students and staff.  It was great to chat and connect outside of meetings.  Enjoy the holidays, Andy, Chrissie, Bernadette and S4 students!

Term 2 has come to an end.   Last week’s Athletics day was a success and all our class competed and did so well. We are really fast runners.   We have done so many things this term, we really enjoyed making scones for our Parents visit and showing off some of the things we learnt. 

We have begun to take part in the eSports trial and are loving using the Nintendo Switch to compete.  We are learning turn taking, respectful communication, following rules and how to run and be part of a tournament.

We all enjoyed the Gympie show excursion we went on, and loved watching the horses and looking at all the school craft. 

We had a visit from Aunty Christine who taught us about the Gubbi Gubbi language and sang us some songs.

We wish you all a safe winter break and we look forward to seeing everybody again next term.

Until next time

Miss Karen, Miss Michelle, Charlie, Declan, Jed, Peter, Tommy and Tyson

What a busy time it has been! The students have had the opportunity to participate in multiple excursions, incursions and community experiences throughout the term. This has allowed us to create many memorable experiences in Seniors.

On Monday all of the Seniors went down to Noosa to catch the Ferry. Everyone loved sitting in the sun and breathing in the salty air. We have enjoyed accessing all of the transport options in our region this semester. Graduation planning is well underway and we ask that parents/carers and families of year 12 students start thinking about purchasing their tickets. A note will come home early next term about this.

Our Senior Secondary students have been developing their social skills during breaks through inside activities of their choosing to complete with classmates. The increase in friendly conversation and positive interactions has been wonderful to see. The students have worked together to complete 500- and 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles, and to reach peaceful outcomes in card and board games.

The positive interactions have led to greater cooperation and more thoughtful responses to each other during interactions in the classrooms.

Literacy

Students have enjoyed focusing on a book of the week and creating predictable sentences, sequencing pictures and retelling the story using words and pictures found in the PODD.

We are very proud of the progress students have been making when participating in their individual reading tasks. Their confidence when speaking and answering comprehension questions is a credit to them.

Maths

Students have been working with money and making small collections of notes and coins as well as working out the change needed. We have continued our work focusing on mental and written strategies when calculating and solving additional problems.

Adulthood

Students have been immersed in identifying agencies and services that they can access post school and have been researching the local area and beyond to discover what volunteer jobs, work or programs they can attend.

Crafting success

Students have been continuing to produce creative items to sell at our market stall. We have to apologies that due to unforeseen circumstances we will be unable to have a market stall this term., this will now be moved to term 3.

In Protective Behaviours we have had an important focus on online safety and developing our social skills in challenging situations. The three vital steps of ‘Stop, Close & Tell’ (stop what you are doing, close the device and tell a trusted adult) has been discussed in great detail as students have explored strategies if they come across content online which makes them feel uncertain, unsafe or confused. Further to this, we have discussed strong passwords, keeping your personal information private and the signs to look out for when managing tricky experiences.

Our Drama lessons have continued with rehearsals for our Shrek end of year performance and it has been a lot of fun now that we get to use props and costumes and really get in to character! The students are doing an amazing job at learning their lines and practising stage directions and many other elements of Drama.

The students are really looking forward to the PBL rewards day this Friday, it’s a fabulous way to end Term 2! We hope that you all enjoy your holiday break.

In HASS this term we have been looking at items from the past and present.  We have been concentrating on changes at home, including cooking, home appliances, and mowing. The students enjoyed looking at the robotic mowers. 

We also explored school, looking at the things we had in the past, compared to the tecnology we use today in the classroom.  With technology, most of the students couldn’t believe that when I went to school, we had no computers.  Studetns were interested in interested in comparing past and present vehicles, cars and trucks in  Transportation.

This week to conclude our unit we are looking at Transport and Technology of the future. The students are really enjoying watching the videos of transportation in the future.

Time to wind up our Digital Technology lessons for Semester 1.  I think most students enjoy digital technology.  Whether programming on Scratch, Programming on the Blue bots, or just driving the floor robot s around the room – and who doesn’t like iPad time?  I’ll be moving into a class next semester so we’ll have a new Technology Specialist teacher.  I will miss getting to interact with every student in the school on a weekly basis which I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Have a great holiday everybody and we’ll see you all in Semester 2.

The Communication team had their final meeting for this semester last week. We were interested to share the data from the Communication Accessible Schools survey which was completed by all school staff recently. The results were pleasing, showing that all staff recognised the importance of communication system and therefore a voice. We also recognised some areas that we could improve in, so we have developed goals to work on to improve these areas.

At present the Communication Matrix is the evaluation tool used to establish a student’s communication strengths and weaknesses. This is a most effective and efficient method for assessing an emergent communicator, to help plan their learning goals. However, to date, current tools for assessing transitional or independent/competent communicators have been found to be lengthy and cumbersome to administer. Therefore, we acknowledge with thanks, the great effort of our Communication Leader, Cassie, who has devised a G.S.S. version of the ROCC Communication Profile. Using ROCC Domains and scoring descriptors, she has developed a refined, yet easily understood document which has been successfully trialled and will be implemented in Semester 2. Thanks again, Cassie!

Something for us to remember- Don’t let us sit in silence.

INFLUENZA:  We are starting to see more cases of illness, such as the flu. The flu is highly contagious and can be serious. The Queensland Government is offering free vaccinations to all Queenslanders over 6 months of age.

Vaccination and practising good hand and respiratory hygiene is your best defence against the spread of the flu.

To protect yourself and those around you, here are 7 easy steps to help fight the flu:

• Get a flu shot every year
• If you are unwell, stay at home and avoid contact with others
• Wash your hands often and properly with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser
• Cover your cough and sneezes with a tissue or a flexed elbow. Throw your tissues away immediately and wash your hands afterwards
• Try to stay 1.5 metres away from anyone who coughs and sneezes
• Clean frequently touched surfaces regularly with soap and water or detergent
• Don’t share items such as cups, glasses, cutlery, lip balm, toys or anything which has come into contact with the mouth or nose.

On Tuesday the 11^th of June Miss Jennie and a group of speedy athletes headed to Maryborough Showgrounds as part of the Gympie District School Sport Team to compete in this years Wide Bay Cross Country Trials. Our athletes ran so well and should be very proud of their individual achievements.

In the 10 to 12 years 2 km race Heath did incredibly well, beating his time from the Gympie District Trials. Heath came second for his age and was selected in the Wide Bay Team. Moni, who had a broken arm, did not compete on the day but qualified to run for the Wide Bay Team based on her performance at the Gympie District Trials.

In the 13 to 15 years 3 km race, we had two athletes, Charlie and Declan. Charlie blitzed the field to come first in his age group, securing himself a place in the Wide Bay Team. Declan did an amazing job, coming fourth in the field. An amazing achievement considering this was his first time competing at this level.

In the 16 to 19 years 3 km race Zane did a fantastic job, coming second. This secured him a place in the Wide Bay Team.

The Wide Bay Cross Country Team will travel to the State Cross Country Trials held in Brisbane after the holidays. Good luck to all runners involved.

Sports Day on Friday was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who attended ad made it such a fabulous day. We need to send a big thank you to Coach Tim who has spent many hours helping our students to learn the skills that were shown on Friday.

Congratulations to Gigum who won the day with 578 points. Mari was second with 518 and Dala third with 508 points.

Age Champions

10-12 years girls – Moni

10-12 years boys – Mason T

13-15 years girls – Hayley

13-15 years boys – Charlie

16-19 years girls – Jasmine

16-19 years boys – Zane

Track ribbons were awarded during parade today.

Pantry Essentials Hampers

This term we have given away four pantry essentials hampers to school families (to the value of $20), thanks to Vinnies. The recipients have been Leni Innes, Arley Baker, Jace Gordon, and Mason Wade and their families. We will continue to give away hampers for the rest of the year, so please collect an entry form from the office if you haven’t already entered.

The purpose of this raffle is to help the school connect with families. Also, it allows us to promote the services of Vinnies and other organisations in Gympie who help those who are struggling. If you would like more information about these services, please contact me.

Feeding the Family for Less

Tuna is a cheap protein and full of essential vitamins and minerals. Here’s a tuna dinner recipe from taste.com.au that you could try:

Easy Tuna Caprese Pasta

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

500g packet gnocchi

425g can tuna in oil, flaked, oil reserved

1 red onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 long red chilli, seeded, thinly sliced

1 tbsp drained baby capers, rinsed

400g tomato medley mix, halved

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ a 220g tub bocconcini, drained, torn

½ cup fresh basil leaves

Method

1. Cook gnocchi in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, following packet directions. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat reserved oil from tuna in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and chilli. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Add capers. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
3. Add tomatoes. Cook for 1 minute or until heated through. Add gnocchi, flaked tuna, and olive oil. Toss over low heat for 2 minutes or until heated through. Add bocconcini and half the basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Serve.

Kids’ and Family School Holiday Activities

Golden Evenings 2024 is a tour of magical evenings across the Gympie region during June and July, with short films, music and more brought to you by the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. For more information, visit https://www.heartofgold.com.au/

Gympie Regional Gallery is hosting numerous art activities for kids during the school holidays. For more information, visit https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/recreation-tourism/art-culture/gympie-regional-gallery/connect-with-the-gallery

Gympie Regional Libraries are offering a range of activities over the school holidays. For more information, visit https://library.gympie.qld.gov.au/

Gympie Pre-Loved Clothing + Rummage Market is on Saturday 22 June. For details, see Facebook.

Wheels on Mary 2024 is being held on Friday 28 June and is Gympie’s ultimate street party, with over 60 rally cars on display. For more information, visit https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/events/event/863/wheels-on-mary-2024

Gympie Rally Rocks 2024 is a concert being held on Saturday 29 June, featuring country artist, Taylor Moss, and Gympie locals, Dan Horne and Linc Phelps. For more information, visit https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/events/event/864/gympie-rally-rocks-2024

Gympie Night Market is a family-friendly evening in Gympie’s beautiful CBD on Friday 5 July. For details, see Facebook.

Gympie Tenpin Bowling & Entertainment is hosting a Super Hero Dress-Up Night on Saturday 6 July. For details, see Facebook.

Imbil Bull Bronc Barrels Buckle Series Round 2 is being held on Saturday 6 July. For details, see Facebook.

My role is to support the wellbeing of staff, students, parents, and others in our school community. If you ever need to have a chat or help with something, please contact me. I’m at school on Tuesday (8.30am-11.35am) and Thursday (9.30am-2.35pm), and I can also be contacted via email – rsdri0@eq.edu.au.

Hope you have a wonderful winter break,

Chappy Rachel