Goondi SS Newsletter 26.10.22
From the Principal
WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY
Our teachers make a difference every day, educating and inspiring young Queenslanders.
World Teachers' Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and thank Queensland teachers for their important role in our communities and for the positive impact they have on the lives of students.
This year we say thank you to our teachers for ‘teaching through every moment’. We acknowledge and show appreciation for the many ways teachers provide support and inspiration to our students.
Let’s join together to thank all Queensland Teachers on World Teachers’ Day, Friday 28 October 2022.
Share your celebrations by using #WTD2022
We celebrated with staff on the 5th October this year with a very special morning tea.
Mobile Phones
It's come to our attention that some students are bringing a mobile phone to school and using it on the school grounds.
Students are allowed to bring a mobile phone to school if they need to have access to it after school, but they need to go directly to the office in the morning when they arrive and hand it in, and can then collect it after 3pm. Students are not allowed to use a phone in the school grounds - this includes all students waiting for the bus and waiting at the parent pick-up area.
All students are aware of the school rules around mobile phones. Please check with your child to see if they have been bringing a phone to school, and talk to them about the school rules.
We appreciate your support with this issue.
School Year 2023
Intentions for 2023 – As we plan for our school structure and classes for next year, we kindly ask that any families who know that they will not be returning in 2023 please notify the school office as soon as possible. This will allow accurate building of classes and resourcing for our school in 2023.
As we approach the half way mark of the term, we are already preparing for assessment tasks, reports and of course celebrating successes. We encourage all of our students to remain focused and continue to enact the Goondi 5 - Be Safe, Participate and Work Hard, Show Respect, Get Organised and Bounce Back.
After the 2022 Year 5 leadership camp, the process for selection of our leaders for 2023 will be commencing. Last week I spoke with all of our Year 5 students about what it takes to be a student leader and the skills and qualities that this important role demands. Students in Year 5 who are hopeful of a position on the student council for 2023 have been asked to write their applications which will be presented to the cohort in Week 7.
I look forward to seeing this process once again produce some excellent school leaders here at Goondi State School.
Regards,
Kristina Haigh
Principal
School Calendar
HALLOWEEN DISCO
The Student Council is holding a Halloween Disco this Friday, 28th October! There will be separate times for the junior school and the senior school:
Prep to Year 3 from 4pm - 5pm
Years 4 to 6 from 5:30pm to 7pm
Entry is by gold coin and the canteen will be open with drinks and snacks for sale.
Wear your spookiest costumes if you dare! We'll see you there!
Friday 28 October - Wear red for Day for Daniel
We're asking all students at Goondi State School to wear red on Day for Daniel, this Friday 28th October, to support the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. Day for Daniel is held annually on the last Friday of October, to honour the memory of Daniel Morcombe. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation asks all Australians on this very special day to Wear Red, Educate and Donate.
The theme for 2022 is brave conversations. We'd like to encourage all parents and carers to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety. If you'd like more information about ways of doing this, you can visit the website: https://danielmorcombe.com.au/day-for-daniel/
Day for Daniel is the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s biggest fundraiser each year. Your support helps the foundation to continue developing free resources and programs for parents, carers, and educators to teach children how to stay safe. Funds also contribute to supporting young victims of crime.
No gold coin donation at school. Donations can be made at the following website: https://danielmorcombe.com.au/get-involved/donate/
Harmony Day
Harmony Day Is Here To Stay
Are you being bullied or even teased about the colour of your skin? Everybody knows that Harmony Day is about differences, but not just differences, it’s also about every culture working together to build a BIGGER, BETTER and BRIGHTER future. People need to start celebrating Harmony Day. There are many significant reasons why people must celebrate Harmony Day such as: improving relationships, showing respect and learning about traditional cultures.
Primarily, kids and even adults will enjoy it when people treat them with respect. Harmony Day does just that, respecting different cultures.
In addition, Harmony Day makes people bond and makes new friendships so everybody can have a friend.
Furthermore, Harmony Day helps kids learn about different cultures. Kids can learn traditional dances, see ancient artefacts and even learn about traditional clothes.
In conclusion, Harmony Day shows people respect, makes them bond and learn about different cultures. SO celebrate Harmony Day TODAY!
Happy Harmony Day!
Written by Kirrily Maund, 4A.
Prep Capers
Term 4 is flying by and students in prep are working hard.
In English we are exploring our likes and dislikes in different stories. We are talking and writing about the characters, setting and events in the story. The students have been thinking really hard and looking deeper into these areas are are coming up with some great likes and dislikes.
In Maths we have been practicing measuring and time and have introduced our daily 5. This is a series of 5 questions each day to practice skills that have been learned over the year. Students have been practicing addition and are working on adding 0, 1,2 or 3 as well as learning about rainbow facts.
In Science we have been exploring different materials to work out what would be the best material to build a house for the 3 little pigs.
In HaSS we have just finished learning about our own history and the changes that have happened in students lives from birth to now. It has been really interesting to hear the ways the students have described their growth over the year.
Prep Staff
Year 1 Capers
Year 1’s have been having a blast during swimming this week. Well done Year 1’s for showing great enthusiasm and giving it a red hot go! Thank you to all the parents for your support. Swimming will continue for the remainder of Week 4.
We have been continuing to write persuasive texts in English. Student’s have been having fun trying to convince their classmates on various topics such as, dogs are better than cats, the beach is better than the town pool and that summer is better than winter.
In Mathematics, we are continuing to revise concepts learnt in previous terms. Some of these concepts include, counting collections of coins, reading and making bar graphs, learning the properties of 2D and 3D shapes and solving addition and subtraction problems. We have been working hard!
Have a great week,
Leigh, Hayley, Tayla, Fiona and Kimberly
Year 2 Capers
Hello from Year 2!
We will have some tired little troopers this week, as we are in our swimming week. Combined with the hot weather it might be an endeavour, but everyone is doing well so far. These sessions are great for testing swimming ability and teaching about pool safety.
Our swimming also links nicely to our Science this week, where we continue our investigations into forces by testing if things float or sink. A big part of any science is making predictions, and then experimenting to observe outcomes, so we will be doing that with water and different objects.
HaSS has been about the history of Innisfail, and this week is early cyclones, such as the one in 1918. We can then compare to modern cyclones like Larry and Yasi, to see how different things are today (such as how much warning they had).
English continues our building of Persuasive Text, where we get to express our opinion about a subject, and try to convince others of our argument. This week we are talking about different occupations, and what people want to be when they grow up. What do you think is the best occupation? Maybe you could talk to your student about it.
Remember with the hot weather to send your student to school with a water bottle if they have one, we have bubblers to drink from as well but it’s handy to have your own.
Regards,
Nathan Worth, Robyn Scheiwe and Jeanette Spataro.
Year 3 Capers
Years 3’s are busy consolidating concepts in preparation for testing. Our first test is on Wednesday this week, and is probability and statistics. Our lessons are focussing on measurement and money. We continually revise number facts and place value concepts.
In Literacy, our Imaginative Recounts are developing. Students are more mindful of crafting compound and complex sentences and to ‘show not tell’ the action. For example: She fell with a loud bang and landed on the prickly carpet. Instead of: She fell on the floor. We are currently working on the complication and resolution paragraphs.
Our Science lessons are filled with experiments and have us considering fair testing. This week we are investigating if all liquids freeze at the same time.
Swimming for year 3 starts next week. We want to reiterate information from the swimming note:
- Do not wear togs to school.
- All earrings must be removed and hair must be secured away from the face.
- Please have all items labelled.
Thank you in advance to those able to assist with the swimming program.
Until next time, Donna, Janelle, Paula and Lizette.
Year 4 Capers
It has been a busy term so far. In English, students are learning to follow the correct structure for writing expositions and use high modality, emotive and evaluative vocabulary to persuade their readers.
In Maths we continue to learn our multiplication tables and have been learning and applying a variety of strategies to help solve word problems.
In HASS we are looking at sustainability and how we can lessen our footprint on the planet, conserving our resources for future generations.
In Science, we have been investigating different types of rocks and the rock cycle. We have also conducted experiments to demonstrate physical and chemical weathering. There are some budding geologists amongst us! The students have enjoyed researching and classifying rocks that they have brought to school.
We are nearly half-way through the term and continue to cover critical content, so it is important that students have regular attendance.
Reminder next week is swimming for Year 4. Please ensure your child wears their school uniform each day and packs their togs, towel, thongs, goggles and a spare plastic bag. Swimming permission slips should have been returned and payments finalised online.
On another note, it is clearly obvious that we are in a heat wave at present. Please ensure your child has their hat, wears sunscreen to school each day and comes with a water bottle to keep hydrated. As October comes to an end, we will commemorate Day for Daniel this Friday by wearing red and celebrate in the evening with the Halloween Disco.
Many thanks, Kath, Kathy and Mel.
Year 4/5 & 5 Capers
Welcome to Week 4! The next two weeks are extremely busy with swimming, experiments, leadership speeches being written, Design and Technology projects and PAT testing all happening.
Some students in Grade 5 are a couple of days into their two weeks of swimming and they are having a blast! If your child swims, please ensure that they have enough healthy food to ensure they are energised. Grade 4 students will begin swimming next week!
Students are continuing to build their comprehension of texts through targeted focus groups and are reading about extreme weather and mummies this week, so please feel free to ask to share what we know! We are getting organised for our Design and Technology projects and students can begin bringing in any resources they have collected from home. Science experiments have captured our students’ attention as they test the viscosity of different liquids.
Student Leader nomination forms were due this week and those students who have completed and returned them will begin working on the structure of their speeches. We will be going through the selection criteria with all students in a focused group and supporting them in the writing of their speeches. Once this process is complete, student will be able to take their speeches home to practice. The tentative date for speeches (to be confirmed) is Thursday the 17th of November.
Wishing all a productive and happy term. Warm regards,
Jessie, Rebecca & Janette
Year 6 Capers
Hello Year 6 families!
What a jam-packed start to the term. We had a fantastic excursion to the Community Gardens and Warrina Lakes in week 2 that is linked to our Business Unit where students are developing a business plan for a nature park. In English we are continuing our study of the novel “Boy Overboard” by Morris Gleitzman and we are working hard learning how to write in different formats including letters and email. In Mathematics we are continuing to review core concepts to prepare students for assessment and high school. The year six student council is also hosting a Halloween Disco on Friday the 28th of October.
Thank you to all students who have been focusing on getting enough sleep, eating a healthy breakfast, and bringing a healthy lunch to school, to make sure they are fully equipped for learning and assessment each day.
Thank you for your support!
Tjaart Richards, Melanie Worth and Janette McClelland.
The Arts News
It has been such an amazing fortnight in Media Arts, with students now using our brand new iPADS. Prep to Year 2 have been using the Notes App to create MEMOJIS. The app allows them to create self-portraits that represent their visual features such as skin colour, hair colour, eye colour and so much more. It is wonderful to see how easy they can use the technology that has been presented to them. Upper levels are working between the apps of CLIPS and iMovie. Year 6 have been designing Halloween Posters for the upcoming Disco in sketch and digital format. The digital version is a short clip that allows students to use a variety of text, images and music to create a moving advertisement! Year 3 have started using iMovie to create movie trailers. This has been such an engaging task as they are to use their own video or photographic footage that inserts into a trailer with a chosen soundtrack using the theme of Fairy Tale or Superhero. An activity that is in process, however hopefully I will get to share with you all soon!
Francesca Rosa
Arts Teacher
L.O.T.E News
Benvenuti (Welcome). The years 5 and 6 Italian classes at Goondi State School are focusing on furthering their knowledge of the Italian language by speaking, writing and listening to new words, phrases and sentences.
Year 5 students are continuing to learn how to use two tables to understand nouns and adjectives in Italian. Students are using the tables to describe some Italian wild and domestic animals. They are also learning additional adjectives and working on sentence structure.
Year 6 students are furthering their knowledge of Italian by learning vocabulary to describe a vacation in Italy at either a lakeside, seaside or mountainous location.
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
