Issue 10 | Term 2 2026
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is not an uncommon message in the end of Term newsletter to celebrate the wonderful finish to the term. It has been a pleasure to share with you, the range of delightful community events that have occurred throughout the past couple of weeks. These include our:
- Senior Athletics Carnival
- Junior Sports Day
- Kokoda Challenge
- Footsteps public performances
- Interschool Boccia Event (where Benowa secured first place)
- Final Interschool Sports afternoon
- Choral, Strings and Band evenings
- Band Camp Community Performances
- End of Semester Sports Assembly
- Prep Song Morning
For many families, you may have been to most of these activities, and I thank you so much for supporting them and celebrating with us.
Staffing Changes for Semester 2
We have quite a few staff moving on for the next Semester:
- Mr Akhtarkhavari (Mr A) in Year 1 will be taking 6 months leave to spend time with his newborn child. Mrs Griffiths will be replacing him.
- Ms Stocki will be taking maternity leave. During this time, Ms Langworthy will be the Year 3 Inclusion Teacher
- Mrs Bailey will be working in a different role in the QTU for 6 months and Mr Tsoustas (Mr T), will be the Inclusion Teacher for Year 4
- Mrs Freshney will be taking 6 months Long Service Leave and being replaced by Mrs Curtis in the Prep Inclusion Teacher role
- Mrs Stannard will be working each Monday in Year 6KM for Term 3
- Our Prep PMP program will be covered by Mrs Butler while Mrs Griffiths is on Year 1
School Disco Preparations
You would have received communication from our P&C regarding the desire for us to hold a school disco event. As with all community-based events, they require a dedicated team of volunteers to conduct them. Please read the information provided and understand how critical it is we find 10 dedicated people to help coordinate this event for the kids. Unfortunately, if we are unable to secure volunteers, we will not be able to go ahead with the event.
Student Squishies
At the moment, students are acquiring squishy toys in droves and bringing them to school. These are causing significant distractions in class during learning time, arguments between students, tears when students compare the value and quality of each other’s toys and damages are resulting in toxic gel getting on clothing and skin.
When we come back next term, if these come to school and are found in the play areas and/or classrooms, they will be confiscated for the day and then given to the child to take home on the condition they do not return. They are not an essential item to have at school and should be left at home. Thank you for your support in this matter.
As we end our first semester, I wish to take this opportunity to wish you all safe and happy holidays, whether you go away or continue working, we hope you are able to spend some valuable time with your family.
Mr Michael Josey
Principal
Upcoming Events
All upcoming events are listed on the
school website calendar.
- NAIDOC Week - Monday 13 - Friday 17 July
- Year 3 Mudgeeraba Heritage Museum - Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 July
- Benowa Art Exhibition - Wednesday 15 July
- P&C Meeting - Wednesday 29 July
- School Disco - Thursday 30 July
- eSports Cup - Friday 31 July
Like our Facebook page and bookmark our website to always be on top of information and events.
We wish to advise parents and carers of the new laws being introduced for personal mobility devices from 01 July 2026.
The Queensland Government is delivering tougher e-scooter and e-bike laws from 1 July, to stop behaviour that puts lives at risk. The new laws respond to widespread community concerns over the use of e-bikes and Personal Mobility Devices, which include e-scooters, e-skateboards and e-unicycles.
Enforcement will target the most dangerous behaviours on roads and paths, with riders facing higher penalties for disobeying the new laws.
Under the stronger laws:
- Police can seize and destroy illegal devices from 1 July.
- Random Breath Tests by Police will enforce drink riding for riders of e-bikes, bicycles, e-scooters and other Personal Mobility Devices in public places from 1 July. 0.05 BAC applies.
- Devices faster than 25km/h will be banned. E-scooters and other Personal Mobility Devices must be restricted so they can’t exceed 25km/h. E-bike motors can only assist up to 25km/h. E-bikes can only be ridden faster under human pedal power.
- 12km/h speed limits will apply on footpaths and when passing pedestrians on shared paths for e-bikes, e-scooters and other Personal Mobility Devices from 1 July.
- E-scooters, e-skateboards or e-unicycles can by ridden on roads, including on-road bike lanes, with a speed limit of up to 60km/h from 1 July. Riders can only go to a maximum speed of 25km/h.
- Higher penalties will apply for speeding, failure to wear a helmet, careless riding, illegally carrying passengers and riding e-scooters, e-skateboards or e-unicycles on prohibited roads from 1 July.
- Riders must be 16 with a licence from 31 August. Some exemptions* for medical conditions and disabilities, and the ability for 12-17 year olds to ride under parental supervision will apply.
- Parents will be fined for under 16s riding illegally, from 1 July.
- Compliance labelling for e-bikes* will be mandatory, by 28 February 2027.
New and increased penalties:
- Not wearing a helmet – $518
- Doubling – $518
- Riding on a prohibited road – $518
- Careless riding – $518
- Speeding – $345 to $1,986 depending on speed
- Drink riding – $518 to $6,908 (maximum court imposed)
- Unsafe parking – $172
- Parents can be fined for children under 16 years riding illegally (illegal device, underage or unlicensed) – $518
For more information on each device, please click on the links below:
Queensland Academy Maths Program
Earlier this term, a group of our Year 6 students had the exciting opportunity to take part in the Queensland Academy Health Sciences (QAHS) Maths Program. Over five Friday morning sessions, students travelled to the Academy in Southport where they explored a range of challenging and engaging maths activities.
Working alongside Academy teachers, students developed their problem-solving skills, tackled complex mathematical challenges and worked collaboratively with like-minded peers. It was fantastic to see students stepping outside their comfort zones, sharing their thinking and embracing new learning opportunities.
The students represented Benowa State School exceptionally well throughout the program and should be proud of their commitment, enthusiasm and willingness to challenge themselves.
Congratulations to all students who participated in this wonderful opportunity!
Benowa State School has just hosted very first Gold Coast Primary Schools Boccia Tournament. Benowa State School joined Ashmore and Surfers Paradise State School teams in our Hall for a day of Boccia FUN.
This is a very special event to support students with disabilities engaging in a national campaign to launch Boccia as a sport in the 2032 Paralympics.
Boccia is open to students of all abilities and experience levels, and is a truly inclusive sport - where everyone can participate, compete and belong.
Our teams have been training for weeks and today amidst all the fun, took out first place with the most games won. Well done Benowa! This event was a massive success and seeing all students so proud, engaged and excited was incredibly rewarding.
Thank you to
Angie Bell MP for sponsoring the shirts for all of the athletes and Lily Parsons, Sport Development Coordinator (Queensland) from
Boccia Australia who helped organise the tournament alongside our own Maika Bailey from Benowa SS. We are honoured to have been able to host this truly special event.
We thank the ABC News for visiting our school and covering this event.
Please click here to watch the interview with Florence and how Boccia is unlocking dreams and promoting inclusivity in sport.
Congratulations to our Kokoda Challenge teams. This year's event has been incredible. We had 14 teams which consisted of 56 students and 14 staff members to train, encourage, and help fundraise for this humbling event. Despite how well we did in the Challenge which was held in Brisbane on the 13 June, Kokoda is so much more. It really is about the spirit of Kokoda - Endurance, Mateship, Sacrifice and Courage and that's just for the gruelling 18km trek. It's also about the cause. The Kokoda Youth Foundation and raising funds to help support other young people and changing their lives. We are so proud of our teams and their fundraising efforts - our highest three fundraiser were: Ashton who raised $904, Troy who raised $571 and Cordelia who raised $425. Well done. Each and every one of our students will take this memorable experience with them forever.
We wish to thank our Kokoda Challenge staff members for another incredible Kokoda journey. Our hats go off to these 14 amazing women, who as well as showing up to school each day, have trained alongside our Kokoda students, sacrificed their weekends, before school, after school, have dedicated their time and committed to the gruelling training schedule and then absolutely nailed the Challenge! Congratulations to each of you and thank you for embarking on this journey for 2026.
The importance of sleep...
Lifestyle factors - what we consume; our physical and relaxation activities; social connections; and sleep - can have big impacts on our health and wellbeing.
Did you know our brain prunes unused synaptic connections (particularly in young people) – use it or lose it! – and glial cells flush out toxins and waste from our brains during sleep?
So, sleep actually promotes neural plasticity, as well as supporting the repair processes of our body. The Department of Health and Aged Care Australian sleep guidelines recommend the following hours of uninterrupted sleep:
- Children aged 5 - 13 years: 9 to 11 hours
- Young people aged 14 - 17 years: 8 to 10 hours
- Adults aged 18 - 64 years: 7 to 9 hours
- Adults aged 65 and over: 7 to 8 hours
How we spend our day and how we wind down of an evening play a big part in the quality of our sleep. If you feel that sleep is an area that you would like to take steps to improve, the following websites provide useful and reliable sources of information: