Goondi SS Newsletter 31.08.22
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
Our students and teachers are now focussed on end of term tests and assessments. As I have moved around the school this week, there is a definite sense of focus and urgency to complete these important tasks. Our teachers will use the assessments and tests not only to assign grades but perhaps more importantly, provide feedback to their students about how they can improve. It certainly looks set to be a busy final 2 weeks of Term 3.
As you may already be aware, Goondi State School offers parent-teacher interviews on the final Tuesday of Terms 1 and 3. This term, the date is September 13th. 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. Please book through the SOBS on-line service. As well as the official day, many teachers will also offer selected appointment slots throughout the final week of term. https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70429
Don’t forget that this Friday, the 2nd of September is a student free day. Our staff will be taking part in a day of valuable professional development focussing on the teaching of reading.
Last Friday, we held our annual book week assembly. The theme for 2022 was 'Dreaming with Eyes Open.' As usual at this time of year, 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 so many great entries and I was pleased to see the overwhelming majority of our students taking part, ranging from simple designs and costumes to unbelievably extravagant entries. We appreciate the effort that every student and their families went to and I would like to congratulate every one of them for this. Thanks to Mrs Edwards for coordinating the event this year.
Last Wednesday, we held our 2022 Under 8’s morning. Our Deputy Principal, Mrs Jackson and Community Participation Officer, Mrs Barba did an outstanding job in organising and running this event. 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, obstacle course, Roaming Wild and many more. The morning gave students the chance to investigate, learn, interact and have fun.
Regards,
Peter Begemann
Principal
School Calendar
TERM 3 CALENDAR
School Events
Friday 2nd Sep – Student Free Day
Monday 12th Sep - Poetry Idol Finals
Tuesday 13th Sep - Parent-Teacher Interviews
P&C Events
Monday 12th Sep – P&C meeting (5.30pm)
Other School News
STUDENT FREE DAY
A reminder that the Term 3 Student Free Day is this Friday September 2ndand school will not be open to students on this day while staff engage in professional development activities
PARENT INTERVIEWS
An opportunity to speak to you child’s teacher will be provided on Tuesday September 13th by appointment. Bookings will be available through our on-line format.
https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70429
On the night, we ask that all parents/carers visiting the school adhere to the allocated time slot so that our teachers can spend all of the allocated time with parents and carers to discuss your child’s progress.
POETRY IDOL
Our 2022 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 Monday 12th September
Parents and carers are invited to come along and watch our finalists perform.
Safety in Drop Off and Pick Up
As previously stated: Can I remind parents and carers about safety while parking, picking up or dropping off students. Please ask your child to cross ONLY at the supervised crossing and no other place. There have been a number of occasions where this has caused safety concerns for our students.
Although there may be no traffic at times, we must teach our children general road safety at all times. Secondly, please take care when parking or leaving. Only use the designated parking places, do not park across the driveway or in the staff car park. Turning is also much safer for everyone at the end of Maple Street and not in the school driveway.
Pick up and drop off are incredibly busy times and thank you for your cooperation as we all work together to keep our students safe.
ATTENDANCE
In Week 7 we had 3 classes that had 100% class attendance.
Congratulations to 1C & 4/5 who were 100% on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and 6B who were at school 100% on Wednesday adnd Thursday.
Our whole school attendance target is 95% in Week 7 we had 89.95% of students in attendance, well done everyone.
Prep Capers
It is that crazy time of the Term again, assessment time.
In English, the students will write an Information Report about Chickens. They have come so far since the beginning of the term and are doing such a great job writing underneath the correct headings. In Letterland, the students continue to learn about many initial consonant blends such as ‘sk, ‘sc’, ‘sn’ and ‘st’.
In Maths, the students will look at ordinal numbers, 2D and 3D shapes, money and sharing. We are still completing our weekly Rocket Facts. The Prep students have now learnt the following addition sums: +0, +1, +2 and doubles. At the end of the term the students will complete a timed Number Facts Test.
In Science, we are completing our Animal Enclosure assessment. The students will need to plan an enclosure for a farm animal considering how to meet its needs. They will need to provide their animal with shelter, food, water and space. Then they will build their animal enclosure using a box and recycled materials.
Kind regards: Prep Staff
Year 1 Capers
This week we have begun our writing assessment. The students are writing an information report about bees. Our garden is coming along nicely and certainly getting a nice drink of water with all this rain we have had. Hopefully soon we should attract some pollinators into our beautiful garden.
Poetry Idol class finals will begin this week so keep practicing and good luck to everybody. 5 finalists from each class will be chosen to go into the semi finals for Year One next week. From here 3 finalists will be chosen to compete against each other in the grand final on Monday Week 10.
Maths assessment will commence next week so please ensure your child is getting to bed early each night and having a healthy breakfast each morning.
This week the students planned their dioramas for their chosen insect. We will begin creating these next week so please send in any materials that your child thinks would be suitable to use in their diorama eg lids, containers, paper towel rolls etc. Have a great week,
Leigh, Hayley, Tayla, Fiona and Kimberly
Year 2 Capers
Hello Parents and Carers!
Well this term has flown by, we can’t believe that it is Week 8 already. This week and next week are our testing weeks, and this means some things are really important right now. This includes things like healthy lunches, enough sleep, and attendance, including getting to school on time. Our school day starts at 8:45am, and students are allowed to enter the room from 8:30am. The data we collect from this round of testing feeds directly into our teaching for next term, so it’s vital that we collect as much as we can.
We are also finalising our selections for our Poetry Idol finalists. Make sure your student is still practicing, because if they are one of the lucky three that get selected to represent Year 2, they will have to give the best performance possible.
The cool weather seems to be sticking around a bit, but we still need to remember that we need hats for play time. Some hats are getting broken, or even going missing. Check to see if your student still has their hat. We do have some spares but these get borrowed at break times. Also ensure that if you get a hat for your student that their name is clearly written somewhere on it.
Regards,
Nathan Worth, Robyn Scheiwe, Leigh Tredwell and Jeanette Spataro.
Year 3 Capers
Hi everyone, it’s hard to believe that it’s already Week 8! During this week and next week we will be undertaking lots of end-of-term assessments. It is important that children attend every day to give them the best chance of success in their tests.
We have continued to investigate heat transfer in Science, investigating conductors and insulators and identifying the best materials to keep our food and drinks warm. We are also investigating how different colours affect the rate of heat transfer.
In Literacy we are commencing our Information Report about New Zealand. This will be our written assessment for this term. Students will submit a draft and then write a finished copy, which will be due before the end of the term.
Poetry Idol class finalists will be known by the end of this week and year level finalists by the end of next week. School finals will take place on Monday 12th Sept.
We have been very impressed with the students’ recall of multiplication facts in Maths. We are presently focusing on improving our spatial awareness, looking at 3D shapes, maps, directions and angles.
Until next time, Donna, 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 it is very important for students to have a good night’s sleep and to eat a healthy and nutritious breakfast before coming to school every day.
Congratulations to parents and students for some very interesting and creative costumes for our Book Week parade last Friday. Everyone looked amazing!
In Genre Writing, we are learning about Tilapia as the final Scientific Report for this term.
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!
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!
As tissues were in very short supply at the start of the year, many students were unable to bring in a box of tissues as requested on the book list. Our tissue supplies are rapidly disappearing, and tissues are now available again, so if you were unable to supply tissues at the start of the year, it would be great if students could bring in a box before the end-of-term.
Until next term, Kath and Kathy.
Year 4/5 & 5 Capers
Students have begun performing their Poetry Idol poems in front of their classes and are excited to find out who has progressed into the semi-finals. Please continue to support your child in practising their poem at home every night. In English, we are continuing to analyse language, respond to the issues and compare and contrast characters and setting in the text Omar Raising.
In Maths, students have been consolidating concepts and skills and have begun their end of term testing. To further support skill consolidation, we recommend students access IXL at home.
Students are continuing to investigate the Australian government and how laws are passed during HASS lessons. They are finalising their Bug Hotel designs during Technology lessons and linking their understanding of their chosen insect’s needs to the adaptations unit in Science.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns.
Warm regards,
Jessie, Rebecca and Janette
Year 6 Capers
Hello everyone!
Great job to all Year 6 students for coming up with some lovely costumes for Book Week! It was great to see everyone getting involved and having a great time!
As we head into our assessment week, lots of learning is happening here in Year 6. In English, students are planning their Ned Kelly persuasive text by developing arguments supporting their opinion on whether he is a hero, villain, or victim. Students are referencing supporting evidence from the text ‘Black Snake’ to support their claims.
In Maths, we are consolidating our learning and reviewing fundamental concepts in preparation for their Maths assessment.
In Science, students are investigating different natural disasters, how we measure them and how to prepare for these drastic events. See if your child can categorise the weather based on the Beaufort Wind Scale, or interpret the weather segment on the news!
In HASS, students are reviewing their learning and revising any unfamiliar concepts.
Students have begun their Poetry Idol assessment this week. The students have put in so much effort and it is exciting to see the improvement in creating great performances.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.
Teagan Trenear, Melanie Worth, Tjaart Richards and Janette McClelland
The Arts News
Already we are into Week 8, and more fabulous art is being created at Goondi. Finalising their airplane artworks, Prep to Year 2 are now focusing on other forms of transport to take us to special events. This week they are drawing Jeeps, and captioning their artworks with “Going to….”, with the students having to come up with their own special location. Year 3, 4, 5 are finalising their major works and now focusing on the process of watercolour techniques to resolve their pieces. Year 6 are continuing to explore the concept of ‘shelter’ and are now busily designing their bus or bike shelter for Goondi. Some wonderfully organic and creative designs are starting to evolve. Well done all!
Francesca Rosa
The Arts
Dustin, Year2, Going to the Sunshine Coast
Year 4, Microbe Studies with watercolour
L.O.T.E News
Years 5 and 6 Italian classes are speaking, writing, listening to new words, phrases, sentences and questions in Italian. In this manner, students are enhancing and furthering their knowledge of the Italian language.
Year 5 students are learning to use teacher-developed noun and adjective tables with the definite article table (“the”) when completing role plays between three characters. Year 6 students are building on their vocabulary by looking at the sports and hobbies that they do using verbs and adjectives in the process. Students are also using adverbs of time to describe when they do these activities. All students are learning a vowel song.
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
Community News
