Goondi SS Newsletter 26th May 2021
From the Prinicipal
Dear Parents and Carers,
NAPLAN has now been completed and our Year 3 & 5 classes are working hard in their daily learning. While the tests are simply a point in time indication of students’ progress, the focus usually placed on NAPLAN at this time of year by the media is huge. This adds pressure to both students and staff. This year however, league or comparison tables will not be published by the media. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate our students and teachers in Years 3 & 5 for their efforts.
As I have mentioned previously, NAPLAN testing provide us with very valuable data on student and cohort performance. At the school level, we drill down into the data to identify our strengths and areas that require further improvement.
With NAPLAN on-line now to be put in place for 2022, we focus our attention on preparation for this. Our aim is to ensure that our students have the best possible preparation and opportunities for skill development to give them every chance of achieving to their potential. ‘Teaching to the test’ does not happen at Goondi and all areas covered by NAPLAN are taught in class as our teachers deliver the Australian Curriculum.
As we move towards assessments over the next few weeks, our students will be working hard and striving to do the best that they can. I encourage parents to contact class teachers with any questions or concerns as soon as they come up. These may be related to school work, assessment or any other issue. Most issues can be resolved quickly and it is always best to deal with any worries as soon as they come up, so that our students are supported as well as can be.
Finally, I wish our students who were selected for the Regional Cross Country event taking place this Friday the very best of luck.
Regards,
Peter Begemann
Principal
Calendar
TERM 2 CALENDAR
School Events
Fri 4th Jun - Spell-a-thon Test
Mon 21st Jun – P&C Meeting at 5:30pm
Sport Events
Wed 26th May - Peninsula Soccer Trials
Fri 28th May – Peninsula Cross Country Trials
Thu 3rd Jun - Peninsula Touch Trials
Wed 16th Jun – Inter-House 200, 800m, Shotput
Fri 18th Jun – Inter-House Athletics Carnival
Other School News
Teacher Aides - Casual
The school is currently experiencing a shortage in casual teacher aides. Our school occasionally needs to replace teacher aides who are on leave, casual teacher aides are contacted to come in for one or several days as the need arises, this is usually very short notice on the day required.
If you are a patient caring person who is interested in working with children this is your opportunity to be considered in this casual role. A resume will need to be dropped at the front office, just a short one page document telling us about you and your past experiences, don’t be concerned if you’re interested but haven’t experience in this field, you are still welcome to drop a resume in. A current blue card is required and a criminal history check will need to be done before any casual work can commence.
Kay
SPELL-A-THON
Just in case you missed it, here is the information again about the school’s major fundraiser. Spell-a-thon word lists and sponsorship envelopes were handed out to all students on Friday 21st May.
As this is the first event in 2 years, we ask that you help your child to participate by encouraging them to learn their words and gain sponsorship. It is an opportunity to improve your child’s spelling ability while at the same time supporting our school and P&C. Of course, there are great prizes in the form of iPads.
All students who return sponsorship will be placed in a draw for an iPad. Two iPads will be drawn.
The two highest fundraisers in P-2 will win an iPad each, as will the two highest fundraisers from Years 3-6.
All students who achieve 100% in their spelling test and participated in the Spell-a-thon, will be awarded a special Spell-a-thon medal.
There will also be a number of class awards. The class that has the highest percentage of students with a perfect score will receive a trophy to be displayed in their classroom throughout the remainder of the year. There are two categories; P-3 and Yrs 4-6.
The class that raises the most amount of sponsorship will be rewarded by the P&C with a pizza afternoon.
May we stress to parents and caregivers that the school and P&C do not encourage or recommend door knocking to gain sponsorship. Students should seek sponsorship from family and friends. If door knocking is to occur, a responsible adult must accompany students at all times.
INTER-HOUSE ATHLETICS
Our students are busily training and preparing for the athletic season ahead. The first major event is our Inter-House carnival. The carnival is run over two days to cater for all events. The schedule and program of events is listed below.
200m, 800m and Shot Put Events
The 200m, 800m and shot put events for 9-12 year old students will be held on Wednesday 16th June. The morning will commence at 9:00 AM with the 9 year old 200m event and conclude with the 800m. Students are not to wear house colours on this day.
Athletics Carnival
Our Inter-House Carnival will be held on Friday 18th June. To ensure that no student misses an early event, we ask that parents deliver students to school no later than 8:30am if possible. The program for the day will be finalised very soon.
Students should wear house colours on the carnival day (Friday 18th June). House colours are as follows:
Geraldton – yellow
Palmerston – red
Johnstone – green
Parents are invited to attend both days and cheer on our students.
Parents are reminded that Friday is a normal school day and all students are required to attend for the full day. If you need to take your child from school early, due to illness or other family commitments, the normal procedures apply and you will have to call in at the office and sign your child out.
Participation and Selection
Our Inter-House carnival is very much focused on “maximum participation”. The program is structured in such a way that all students have an opportunity to participate in most events. All students take part in sprints and field events. The aim of the day is participation and students score points for their house when they participate in an event.
When it comes to the district athletics carnival however, our aim is to select the best possible athletes and teams to represent the school. We use results from our Inter-House carnival as a basis for selection, but in the case where a student who has athletic potential is absent from the carnival due to illness/injury or having to represent the school or district at another event, the school has a policy of conducting a trial or runoff at a later stage to determine if the student is eligible for selection.
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2021
27 MAY TO 3 JUNE
MORE THAN A WORD. RECONCILIATION TAKES ACTION.
The 2021 National Reconciliation Week Artwork.
'Action by Jessica Johnson'
My New Gallery
Student of the Week
Week 4
Week 5
Prep Capers
This fortnight in English, Prep have continued to practise writing a retell for the book Mrs Wishy Washy using the sentence starters First, Next, Then and After that. These sentence starters can also be used as prompts for the students to retell the story from their home readers each evening.
In Maths, the students have continued representing numbers to 10 using symbols, words and pictorial examples. They have measured and compared the length of objects ordering them from smallest to biggest. Also, they have put the days of the week in order and identified which important events occur on different days throughout the school week. Parents can help by using the words weekend, Saturday and Sunday at home and reinforcing that we do not go to school on those days.
In HASS we continue to examine the nature and diversity of families by sharing Our Family posters. We created a pictograph and compared the size of our families. We have also been looking at maps and identified where we live and where we go to school.
In Science, we have been observing the weather and using symbols to represent and record weather data. We have been discussing how the weather affects our behaviour and influences what we wear.
This fortnight we also had a very special visitor. Ditto from Bravehearts came to school to share his important personal safety messages with Prep – Year 3 students.
Regards Prep Staff
Year 1 Capers
Week 6 already! Where has the term gone!
Last Friday the 2021 Spell-a-thon list went home with the Year 1 students. Your child will need to practice these words every night by using the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method. This is the set homework for the next 2 weeks. Please help your child to learn the words by asking them to spell them, focus on the words they find difficult, highlighting the diagraphs in words, playing games with them etc.
Writing assessment will begin next week and all other forms of assessment will begin the following week. Please make sure your child gets to bed early and has a nutritional breakfast to help them get through the day.
In Science we have begun the assessment task which is to plan, design and construct a boat that will float and hold more than 5 marbles.
We have also begun our assessment task in Geography, in which the students must design a park/playground that caters for all ages and includes natural, built and managed features.
Hayley, Leigh and Fiona
Year 2 Capers
This fortnight in English we have been writing Information Reports about echidnas and are now about to start on the platypus. Our focus has been on building vocabulary, writing compound and complex sentences and using correct punctuation.
In Maths we built on our fractions knowledge with a lesson on quarters making pizzas. We are also practicing doubles, calendar work, missing elements, and capacity.
We have been working on testing materials and joins to build the strongest house for the Three Little Pigs.
We’d like to ask all parents and carers to encourage their children to practice their Spell-a-thon words.
All our best, Miss Mollenhagen, Mrs Hollywood and Mrs Spataro.
Year 3 Capers
We are half way through Term 2 already, which means we have started our Poetry Unit. The Poems consist of investigating senses where we describe what we can see, hear and feel. This allows us to explore parts of speech further and identify nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Our Maths test start this week so we are consolidating concepts, making sure we are ready to show what we have all learnt this term. Next week we start revising the 7 times tables and the doubles plus 1.
In Science, we are exploring the idea of shadows and what side and lengths the shadows are in relation to objects.
It’s time to wrap up our Technology unit ready for marking. Students are busy filling in their booklet, brainstorming ideas and generating this on the the Scratch program.
Please remember to practise the Spell-a-thon words every night.
Until next time,
Robyn, Janelle, Paula and Lizette.
Year 3/4 & 4 Capers
We have arrived at the mid-term point for Term 2! Students will begin mid-term testing over the coming weeks to inform teaching in preparation for report cards later in the term.
In addition, our major fundraiser, Spell-a-thon has begun, with fundraising envelopes and list words sent home last Friday. The purpose of this event is, of course, to raise much-needed funds for our school, but it is also one of the highlights of the year for students. In order to ensure your child does their best, work with them to practice their words as much as possible over the next two weeks. There are many amazing prizes up for grabs!
Please note, Week 6 homework is different from students regular homework. Students are to research their family history with you and complete a family tree, identifying one interesting person to talk about for their speaking task. Students will then be given time in class to develop a poster as well as a speech to present to the class.
Finally, we have had a few cases of head lice spreading amongst 4A and 3/4B. Therefore, a precautionary hair treatment would be beneficial for all students.
Many thanks, Lisa and Kath.
Year 5 Capers
Can you believe we are halfway through the term already!
In English, we have started our new unit, Poetry! We have been exploring a variety of different poems as well as looking at structure, rhythm and rhyme. Last week students wrote some excellent cinquain poems about Australian animals and this week they will be tackling an ode to food!
In Maths, we continue our focus on multiplication and division algorithms, factors and multiples, order of operations and creating line graphs.
In Science, we are continuing to explore Earth's Place in the Solar System. This week focuses on testing the power of the sun by cooking a marshmallow in our DIY solar ovens - if we ever have a sunny day!
Our mid-term keys have been administered and students are aware of how they need to improve to reach an A key. Please continue to support your child with learning their Spell-a-thon words at home and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions,
Emily, Rebecca and Kerry.
Year 6 Capers
No-one can quite believe we’re already more than halfway through Term 2! The next few weeks are going to be very busy for Year 6. In English we have spent this term refining our narrative writing skills, and each week we have produced a piece of writing on our theme “Survival”, considering many different situations where survival might be an issue. Alongside this, we’ve been discovering and discussing how the main character of the novel Hatchet has survived in the Canadian wilderness. Students will combine all of these skills and knowledge to write their final writing piece, and together with knowledge gained in Science, HASS and Design Technology this term they will compose their final speaking task. We are all very excited to see what advice they have to give us about how to survive in their chosen environment!
In Maths, we are covering many concepts including learning about translation, reflection and rotation, the circumference of a circle, and observed and relative frequency in chance experiments. (We’ve learned that some games aren’t as fair as they might seem!) The Bar Model continues to be explored in great depth, as the students make tremendous improvements in solving complex word problems. We will also be revising content taught through the year so far in preparation for our end-of-term tests.
In Science, we have been looking at the effects humans have on our environment – both positive and negative.
In HASS we are continuing to explore diversity, industry, economics and culture in a variety of Asian countries.
Year 6 students will also be busy over this week and next learning their Spell-a-thon lists. Lists were sent home last week for students to learn. Please encourage your child to practise their words each night, to support the work we’re doing in class.
Until next time,
Marica Cunningham, Aaron Harbour, Melanie Worth and Janette McClelland.
LOTE News
Years 5 and 6 students at Goondi State School are building on their knowledge of Italian by speaking, writing and listening to new words, phrases, sentences and questions in Italian. Students are doing this individually and in a whole class setting. Well done students!
Year 5 students are learning how to respond if they do not have a pet. Year 6 students are learning about La mia giornata (My day) and furthering their knowledge of Italian nouns, verbs and adjectives. They are working on understanding the concept of time to add to their daily activities. All students are also learning songs to enhance their pronunciation.
The bookwork standard shown in their exercise books is pleasing. Feedback and assistance is given to students regularly. Continue encouraging your child to speak Italian with you and discuss what they are learning.
Arrivederci (Goodbye)
Signora Lazzarini
Art News
Over the fortnight, our Drama room has been alive with creative and performative energy! Particular highlights have included individual miming, group play-scripting and improvisation game-playing. All students continue to explore the elements of drama by learning about the variations in facial expressions, hand gestures, body language, timing and voice expressions and utilising these in their performances.
Delivering a uniquely interpretive and open-ended curriculum, Drama delivers a learning framework to work both independently and collaboratively; providing an invaluable opportunity for students to develop their leadership, negotiating, communicating and public speaking abilities. It is wonderful to see the students confidence grow in these essential life-long skills.
The 34th Innisfail Young Performers Competition will commence this week at the Con Theatre and it is exciting to see Goondi students participating in Speech and Drama events. Sections represented by our students include Poetry, Impromptu Reading, Character Portrayals, Bible Readings and Short Story/Play Readings. Our competitors have been very busy practising and rehearsing so we would love to see members of our Goondi community come along and support them. The Speech and Drama session kicks off at 9am Saturday and runs all day. Wishing our students the very best of luck!!!
Innisfail Young Performers Competition Association
https://www.facebook.com/iypc.org.au/
Francesca Rosa | The Arts
ArtHUB is thriving with inspiration as students continue their investigations into portraiture. Over the past fortnight, students explored the incredibly emotive works of Australian artist Joy Hester, by utilising ink to create an abstract portrait painted in her infamous style. This week they started creating collaged fabric faces by cutting and arranging remnant textile pieces. Students have also commenced projecting and drawing their own large-scale portrait for the preliminary process of their self-portrait painting. It is very exciting to see the volume and quality of work that our students are producing and we are looking forward to seeing all their brilliant creations in their upcoming exhibition. If your keen to see more of what they do in ArtHUB please follow us on our very own instagram page. Link below.
GoondiArts - https://www.instagram.com/goondiss_arts/
Community News
