Music Education at Ascot is an important part of the school curriculum and has maintained a standard of excellence for many years.

The Ascot Music Program provides a wide range of musical experiences for the children, both in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities.

Competitions such as the Festival of Music and Fanfare and musical productions cater for the gifted musicians and encourage the pursuit of excellence. This provides an opportunity for students to develop their full musical potential.

Specialist music teachers conduct class music lessons for all year levels each week - Years 1 - 4 two lessons, Years 5 - 7 one lesson.

The Ascot School Choir (approx. 100 members from Years 4 - 7) consists of a performance group (55 members) and a training group. The choir performs at the Ascot Art Show, School Assemblies, Musical Evenings and Carols by Candlelight.

The performance group has sung at a variety of engagements including Showcase 2001, Parliament House Functions, Education Queensland conferences, and at the Olympic Dinner at the Convention Centre in 2000. This year we sang at ANZAC Square at the children's Anzac Service.

The Senior Choir (Year 7) performs a limited number of choral works and each year performs in either a musical or a mini-musical as either a separate work or as part of the Musical Evening. Year 6 students augment the choir where necessary. A highlight of last year was the successful production of the 1920's musical "The Boyfriend."

Year 3
Strings only. Free half hour lessons are conducted by an instrumental teacher during the school day.

Year 4
Strings continue.
Woodwind lessons are conducted by two private teachers.

Years 5 - 7
Strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Free half hour lessons are conducted by instrumental teachers from Education Queensland.

All instrumental students participate in a string ensemble or concert band appropriate to their level.
At Ascot School there are 3 concert bands - Senior, Intermediate and Junior and 2 string ensembles.
Last year our Senior Band won the Queensland Festival of Music.

This group of dedicated parents conducts fundraising activities such as discos, film evenings and a cocktail party and supports the school music program by helping organize the Musical Evening, band concerts, transporting equipment, repairs and many other tasks.

Ascot State School has a strong tradition in sport and health and physical education. The overall focus is on a well-balanced program taking from all of the foundation strands of the new syllabus. The program promotes participation in the areas of the Aquatics-stroke development, Swim & Survive Awards from Royal Lifesaving Society, Water polo, Perceptual Motor Development, Fitness, Ball skills, Athletics, Dance and Games skills.

Health and Personal development strands are conducted on appropriate topics for that particular Year Level.

Children participate in two specialist lessons per week [Prep – Yr 4] by two specialist PE teachers. Children in Yr 5 – 7 participate in 1 x 30 minute lesson per week plus involvement in interschool or intra-school sport.

Facilities

Ascot has a 25m-heated pool/Gas/Solar
Covered games court
Hall facility
Tennis courts
Oval
Adventure playgrounds Prep and Yr 1-2
Cricket Nets/Cricket pitch

Sport Interschool

The school is involved in a wide variety of sports. Track and Field, swimming, softball, T ball, netball, hockey, AFL, Cricket, Cross-country are among the sports offered.

These sports are offered depending on student numbers and staff coaching expertise. Ascot School participates in interschool sport within the City district on a seasonal basis.

Children have the opportunity to trial for selection in primary school, district, regional and state teams.

*Term 1*	*Term 2*	*Term 3*	*Term 4*
Inter-school Swimming 5-7	Cross Country	Inter-school Athletics	Cricket
Inter-school Swimming 5-7	Netball girls 5-7	Inter-school Athletics	Softball
	Hockey girls 5-7		T-Ball
	Touch Football 5-7		Water polo
	AFL Yr 5-7
	Tag Football 5-7
	Athletics Carnivals Prep – Yr 7

* NB 10-13 years children only compete at District level in Swimming/Athletics

Criteria for selection in Interschool Sporting Teams

Attitude
Extra Effort
A willingness to attend training sessions to develop skills
An ability to cooperate with coaches and team mates
A willingness to play wherever required for the good of the team and to share games whenever necessary without complaint

Sport Intra-school

Recreational sport is offered to children not participating in inter-school sport as a means of enhancing interest in active participation. Children who remain at school will be offered a variety of school based and commercial recreational activities. Commercial recreational activities will incur a transport/equipment cost.

House System for Sport

Upon admission to the school children are allocated to one of the four houses

Henderson [gold] named after foundation teacher, Mr Thomas Henderson 1920-39
Meibusch [green] named after the second head teacher Mr Robert E Meibusch 1939-56
Ryan [red] named after the Premier of Queensland, Mr Thomas Joseph Ryan, a lawyer responsible for establishment of Arbitration Court
Lilley [blue] named after former Premier of Queensland, Sir Charles Lilley, Justice of the State and architect of the Education System.

Each year, inter house athletics and swimming carnivals precede the district, regional and state carnivals. These are well supported by the school community.

School carnivals

Swimming      Yrs 5, 6 & 7    Term 4
Athletics         Yrs 1-3            Term 2
Athletics         Yrs 4-7            Term 2
Swimming      Yrs 1-2            Term 4
Swimming      Yrs 3 & 4        Term 4

Camps

Students in Years 5, 6, 7 annually attend year level camps.
Destinations:

Yr 5 Camp      Ewan Maddock Dam Recreation Centre, Landsborough [3 days]
Yr 6 Camp      Tallebudgera Camp [3 days]
Yr 7 Camp      Canberra Trip [5 days

Japanese

L.O.T.E Program
L.O.T.E stands for Language Other Than English. At Ascot Sate School, Students in Years 5, 6 and 7 learn Japanese. Year 5’s have two 30 minute lessons each week and Year 6’s and 7’s have two 45 minute lessons. Students not only learn to communicate and comprehend the language but also develop an understanding of the culture and Japanese people.

Aims
Our aim in the L.O.T.E program is to
*    provide exciting and enjoyable language learning experiences
*    offer learners an opportunity to acquire communicative use of Japanese
*    develop an understanding of the Japanese culture
*    develop a better awareness of the linguistic process
*    develop critical thinking

Activities
Our students participate in the following activities in L.O.T.E classes:
*          Singing Japanese songs
*          Playing Japanese games
*          Making Origami - paper folding
*          Reading and writing Japanese script – Hiragana, katakana and some kanji

Themes
The OVERALL YEARLY PLAN incorporates the six fields from the new syllabus and the modules/units that the students will cover in their Japanese lessons. These may vary depending on student and teacher interest.

Year 5
	TERM 1	TERM 2	TERM 3	TERM 4
FIELD	Personal and Community Life	Imaginative World	International World	Leisure and Recreation
MODULE (UNIT)	I’m an Individual	Imaginary Creatures (Crazy Creatures	Eating around the World	Mini Olympics
Year 6
	TERM 1	TERM 2	TERM 3	TERM 4
FIELD	Personal and Family Life	Leisure and Recreation	Imaginative World	Built World
MODULE (UNIT)	Family Life	Sports and Hobbies	Fabled Creatures	Home Sweet Home
Year 7
	TERM 1	TERM 2	TERM 3	TERM 4
FIELD	International World	Natural World	Personal and Community Life	Leisure and Recreation Imaginative World
MODULE (UNIT)	Global Chase	The Outback	Community Celebrations	Canberra trip journal Manga comics

Events
Events throughout the year:

Year 7 Visit to a Buddhist Temple (term 1). This integrates LOTE with some of the SOSE outcomes.
Years 5, 6 and 7’s have Japanese Obento lunch.
Students and teachers from our Japanese sister city, Myoshi Machi, visit Ascot State School (usually early August) and homestay with Ascot families.
MLTAQ LOTE Competition