Goondi SS Newsletter 1st Sept 2021
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
We now head in to the last 2 and a half weeks of the term and our focus is on end of term assessment pieces, testing results and giving feedback on how they can improve their work, to our students. I feel very privileged to be a part of Goondi State School as I see our students across all year levels working so hard to do their best in these tasks.
Our teachers are offering Parent-Teacher Interviews on the final Tuesday of the term, September 14th. These meetings are a great opportunity for our parents and carers to gain a deeper understanding of their child’s progress. As you know, the ‘How was your day?’ ‘Good!’ conversations don’t reveal much about successes, challenges and how your child can be supported to achieve to their full potential. Another highly valuable function of these meetings is that they demonstrate to your child that their education and progress is very important and valued by you.
Don’t forget that this Friday, the 3rd of September is a student free day. At this time, our teachers will be working with a number of other local schools, to carry out an extensive inter-school moderation process. We will be looking at a range of student work samples and focussing on teacher judgements about the work against the Australian Curriculum. Judgements made will be discussed, compared and quality assured.
Last Friday we held our annual book week assembly. The theme for 2021 was Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds. I was amazed by the sheer number of our students that took part and dressed up for the occasion. All the students looked fantastic as they showed us such a wide range of book characters and themes. There were some unbelievably extravagant entries that absolutely blew all our teachers away. We appreciate the effort that every student went to and I would like to congratulate every one of them for this. It really made the day something to be remembered. Thanks to Mrs Edwards for coordinating the event this year.
On Thursday last week, we held our 2021 Under 8’s morning. Our amazing Deputy Principal, Mrs Jackson and Community Participation Officer, Mrs Barba did an outstanding job. There were a wide range of activities for the children of Goondi and some of the local kindy groups to take part in. These ranged from face painting, arts stalls, jumping castle, obstacle course, Roaming Wild and many more. We were also privileged to welcome the local Fire and Police Services. The overwhelming feeling was of inclusion and great fun!
Regards,
Peter Begemann
Principal
School Calendar
TERM 3 CALENDAR
School Events
Tues 14th Sep - Parent-Teacher Interviews
Thurs 7th October (Week 1 Term 4) – Pre-Prep commences
P&C Events
Mon 18th Oct – P&C Meeting
Extra-Curricula Events
Thurs 9th September – Year 4 Aquarium Excursion
Student of the Week
Other School News
STUDENT FREE DAY
A reminder that the Term 3 Student Free Day is this Friday September 3rd and school will not be open to students on this day while staff engage in professional development activities
PRE-PREP PROGRAM
A reminder that our Pre-Prep program commencement date has changed due to the building work currently being carried out in our prep class room. The program will now commence on Thursday 7th October and will run weekly. Morning (9:00-11:00am) and afternoon (1:00-3:00pm). Sessions will be run on Thursdays.
PARENT INTERVIEWS
An opportunity to speak to your child’s teacher will be provided on Tuesday September 14th by appointment. Bookings will be available through our on-line format, which is now available. On the night, we ask that all parents/carers visiting the school adhere to the allocated time slot and sign in via the QR code. This is the URL that parents will use to make bookings:
https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70429
PARENT PICK UP
3pm is very busy at the parent pick up gate. There is no need to wait! Parents and carers may pick up children at 3pm. This will help to ease the number of students waiting, some for up to 30 minutes after school has finished. There are parking bays along the entire school and oval frontage available for use.
POETRY IDOL
Our 2021 Poetry Idol competition is now well underway. This term our students have been selecting, working with and creating poetry. They are deep into the Goondi Poetry Idol process by selecting and learning individual poems to perform.
The format will be the same as has been in previous years where initially students will perform for their class. This performance will be used for assessment purposes in the English area of Speaking and Listening.
Each teacher will then select the top five performers from the class to compete in their year level category (Prep, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 etc.).
The top 3 performers from each year level category are then selected to compete in the finals which will be held on Friday 17th September.
Parents and carers are invited to come along and watch our finalists perform but must use the QR code to sign in under COVID regulations.
Prep Capers
In English for the next two weeks we will be writing an Information Report on Snakes.
In Letterland, we have been looking at initial consonant blends such as ‘gr’ as in grass and ‘pr’ as in prince. This week we will be learning all about the blends ‘sk’ and ‘sc’.
This term students have been practising their Poems and will begin presenting to the class this week.
In Maths the children have been revising teen numbers 11-16 and will be introduced to number 17. We will continue looking at the teen numbers until the end of the term. We have revised many of the addition strategies such as add 0, add 1, add 2 and doubles. Every week our Prep classes complete their Fast Facts.
In Science, the children have been working on their Animal Enclosures. They have started work on their designs and making their box collage.
In HASS, the children will use their senses to explore special places such as the playground and the library. When we are looking at these special places, we look at what makes them special to us and how we can care for them. Students will draw these places and label and explain why they are special to them.
A big thank you from the Prep Team to our Prep families for always practising sight words and reading books every night that are sent home.
Kind regards: Priscilla, Rose, Angela, Kath, Anita, Amanda and Cassie
Year 1 Capers
Garden news! We have learnt that sometimes seeds just don’t germinate. We had a whole garden bed fail to germinate or turn to seedling. This could be due to the weather, soil, water or growing conditions in the garden. We were lucky enough to have Year 1 student Tyson L, donate some more bean and radish seeds to plant. They have been planted in the bare spot in hopes we will be able to get them to germinate. The vegie patch has certainly been a valuable learning experience for us all!
In English this week the students will be writing their final information report on corn. We will get to taste sweet canned corn. Ask your child to tell you how they know when a corn cob is ready to be picked. It has been fantastic to see some of the vegetables we have learnt about and tasted, appearing in lunchboxes!
In Maths this week we have begun assessment in all areas. Please make sure your child gets to bed early each night and has a nutritional breakfast to help them perform their best on every test.
Have a great week, Leigh, Hayley and Fiona.
Year 2 Capers
What an exiting fortnight we have had with Under 8’s day and our Book Week dress up! All our kids had such a great time and their costumes looked fantastic. Great effort Year 2!
In English we are working on planning and writing narratives using the structure and features we have focussed on this term. Later this week we will also be holding our Year 2 Poetry Idol semi-finals, good luck to our contestants. We were so impressed with the effort that kids made to learn and rehearse their poems at home.
This week we are completing our Maths end of term assessment.
All our best, Miss Mollenhagen, Mrs Hollywood and Mrs Spataro.
Year 3 Capers
We would like to extend a huge thank you to our parents and carers for making time to send your child in costume for Book Week Parade. The kids loved it and we were impressed that every student came dressed up. We had another important event on our calendar this week, every student presented their poem and competed for the coveted opportunity to be one of the five finalists selected to represent their class in the Poetry Idol semi finals today. Gestures, expression, eye contact and appropriate volume are some of the factors that we were looking for.
Assessment also kicks off to inform our planning and teaching for next term. For English, the students will be writing a research task about New Zealand independently, after skimming and notetaking for information.
In HASS, we are comparing the natural and manmade features of different places in Queensland, including Mt Isa, Charleville and suburban Brisbane.
Our experiments in Science have helped us conclude which materials are good insulators or conductors. This week, we’ll explore the insulative and conductive properties of colour and the impact it has on our lifestyle choices.
Until next time, Robyn, Janelle, Paula and Lizette.
Year 4 Capers
Week 8 and end-of-term testing begins. During this week and next, we will be completing assessments in all areas of the curriculum, so having a good night’s sleep and eating a healthy and nutritious breakfast before coming to school every day is very important.
Congratulations to parents and students for some very interesting and creative costumes for our Book Week parade on Friday. Everyone looked amazing!
The students have enjoyed learning about different feral animals and the negative impacts they have on the environment. The students have impressed us with their confidence and competence with the Tinkercad program as they design their 3D boats. We are looking forward to finishing these and seeing how many print successfully and can actually float! The students have started part of their Science assessment this week by researching an endangered Australian animal which they will present as a poster. We are also excited to announce that our planned excursion to the Cairns Aquarium has been rescheduled to Thursday 9th September. Unfortunately we do not have any spots for parents to accompany us.
Our Poetry Idol in-class finals will be held this week with year level finals to be held next week. We have some very passionate poets, so good luck to all!
Until next time Kath and Lisa
Year 5 Capers
A very big thanks to all for returning your Camp Forms. Please forward any outstanding forms as soon as possible as numbers need to be confirmed with Camp Paterson.
In English, we are in the final stages of completing our comparative analysis of Colin Thiele’s famous Australian novel ‘Storm Boy’ and Shawn Seet’s film adaptation.
End-of-term testing for Reading, Punctuation, Grammar and Spelling will be conducted this week and next week. Students are reciting their poems this week in the hopes of making it through to be a Year 5 finalist, so they can then compete in Goondi Idol in Week 10. We are also at ‘the pointy end’ of Maths this week consolidating and reviewing our learning in preparation for testing across the three strands: Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability.
HASS has students developing their knowledge about the roles of community volunteers and the common goals and values shared.
Please encourage your child to be undertaking independent study at home to ensure their success during the testing period.
Wishing all a productive and happy week.
Warm regards,
Rebecca, Emily & Kerry.
Year 6 Capers
Our Year 6 students put an amazing amount of work into their Book Week costumes, we were all very impressed with the variety of creativity shown on the day.
In English, we are completing our comparative analysis of JRR Tolkien’s novel ‘The Hobbit’ and Peter Jackson’s film adaptation. To reward the amazing work our students have put into their comparative analysis we will be watching the remainder of the film over the coming weeks to allow students to enjoy the full cinematic tale. If you would prefer your child did not watch the remainder of the film please let us know ASAP. End-of-term testing will begin this week and continue into next.
In Maths we are consolidating and reviewing our learning in preparation for next week’s testing. Students are also consolidating their knowledge and skills in Science and HASS. Please encourage your child to be undertaking independent study at home to ensure their success during the testing period.
Marica Cunningham, Aaron Harbour, Melanie Worth and Janette McClelland
P & C News
We can’t believe that we are nearly at the end of Term 3! The P and C continue to keep busy with various fundraising activities and are super appreciative of all the support provided by the Goondi State School Community.
Our sausage sizzle and cake stall at the Interschool Athletics Carnival was a huge hit and really added to the atmosphere of the day for all students and spectators. The P and C would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the parents and friends who helped out with planning for the event, running the stall, and supplying items for sale. A special thank you to Leanne De Prima who took the lead to make it such a successful event. Thanks also to Mario De Prima, Paul Pike, Sheree Zammit, Anne Lombardi, Janita Saunders and Leah Baily. These initiatives can’t happen without your support, and we are very thankful for your time and for adding to the excitement of the day. The money raised during the sports day will contribute to the cost of the bus for the Year 5 Camp which will be held in Term 4.
Thanks also to everyone who has supported our pie drive. We look forward to delivering pies on Wednesday 8th September to everyone who placed an order. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for reminders about delivery times, and we hope you enjoy the tasty treats and easy week-night dinners!
Our Christmas Raffle will be run in Term 4, and we’ve already had some fantastic prizes donated by businesses around town. If you are a business owner and would like to donate something for the raffle, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the P and C Secretary at beccasapuppo@gmail.com.
Everyone is welcome at P and C meetings. They are held on the third Monday of each month (outside of school holidays) at 5:30pm in the school library. Keep an eye on the school notice board for reminders.
Italian News
Students in Years 5 and 6 Italian classes at Goondi State School are growing in their fluency and confidence in the language and their speaking and writing is progressing well. Well done students!
Year 5 students are continuing to listen to, read and say a simple conversation using questions they have learnt thus far this term. Three people are in each conversation and students are working on completing a cloze activity with this content. Year 6 students are continuing to learn about sports and hobbies and when they do them.
All classes are listening to and singing songs to enhance their fluency and pronunciation in Italian. A neat and accurate bookwork standard is promoted and expected.
Continue encouraging your child to speak Italian with you and discuss what they are learning.
Arrivederci (Goodbye)
Signora Lazzarini
The Arts News
As we move into Week 8, Dance students are continuing their focus on Indigenous dance practice in Australia. It has been a busy, busy fortnight with all students continuing to show great enthusiasm, motivation and talent in class. Upper year levels, are now learning about Aboriginal dance and are collaborating in groups to create short routines and sequences that highlight dreamtime and cultural storytelling. Lower year levels have been inspired by the stage show ‘Stomp’ - a percussion group, that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre and dance performance using rhythms, acrobatics and pantomime. Students have been creating short clapping and stomping based routines that focus on rhythm and repetition.
Until next time!
Francesca Rosa
The Arts | Dance Teacher
Music News
It has been a great pleasure for me to return to Goondi after extended leave this year. I have very much enjoyed working with all the students from Prep to Year 6 and resuming our normal music program. I have very much appreciated the warm welcome that I have been given from students, parents and staff. I look forward to teaching music and developing students’ skills so that Goondi can be proud of the amazing talent that we have at this school.
Kind regards
Kerry Macgillivray
Music Teacher