Goondi SS 01.03.2023 Newsletter
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
As I visited classrooms, it was exciting to see students engaging in learning and being productive in Week 6. It was fantastic to see the dedicated staff at Goondi State School ensuring all students were learning and achieving their best. All students learning and achieving every day. Every day counts!
As we approach mid-term, the focus for our Year 3 and 5 teachers is clearly on NAPLAN testing which will occur in Week 8. Over the next two weeks in the lead up to the tests, teachers will be concentrating on consolidating core skills and providing opportunities for students to sit practice tests. This ensures that all students are comfortable with the format of the NAPLAN tests.
NAPLAN will be conducted on-line across the country.
The features that can be seen include question types, on screen tools, timers and interactive navigation. The demonstration tests cover a sample of possible questions.
Instruction begins at 8:45am at Goondi State School. Ideally, students should arrive at school a few minutes before this time so that they have an opportunity to organise themselves and be pre-pared for class.
When it comes to education, getting your children to school every day on time should be every parent’s highest priority and we appreciate how you ensure this occurs every day.
Our students really do demonstrate the Goondi 5:
Be Safe
Be Respectful
Participate & Work Hard
Get Organised
Bounce Back
A sincere congratulations to our incoming 2023 P&C executive committee, I look forward to working with you all this year.
President - Peter Greven
Vice President – Michael Blair
Secretary – Rebecca Sapuppo
Treasurer - Louise Blair
Yours in education
Tania Kaitara
Principal
Other School News
Breakfast Club is operating every morning from 8am to 8.30am in the hall before students go to the classrooms. A huge THANK YOU to Woolworths Innisfail, Australian Banana Company, Kelloggs, The Sekhon family and The Daley family for all our lovely donations.
This week the dragonfruit have been a huge hit with the students as well as the banana smoothies.
STUDENT ABSENCES
When a child is absent from school a reason must be provided. Please telephone the school office on the morning your child is absent. Parents and carers should use the School Absence Line – 40780466 when informing the school of an absence. The school monitors absenteeism through its class rolls and administration systems so it is vital that an explanation is provided to the school every time your child is absent. Unexplained absences and absences without a valid excuse are recorded.
Where absenteeism is persistent the school will enact a formal process as per Departmental guidelines and the Education Act. This can result in referral of persistent absenteeism to the Director General of Education for further action.
ASSEMBLY
The school holds a whole school assembly every Thursday commencing at 12.45 PM in our Multi-Purpose Hall. The assembly, partly run by the School Captains and the Student Council, is used to convey special messages, reinforce school rules, acknowledge student and class achievements, and to introduce special guests. Parents are most welcome to attend any assembly.
AWARDS
Throughout the year students will be presented with various class awards. These are often designed by the teacher and are specific to a particular class. There are a number of school awards however that are presented on a regular basis during our school assemblies.
Student of the Week Award - This award is presented to a student from each class every week on assembly. The award can be given for improvement in school work, good classroom behaviour, being cooperative and helpful and showing responsibility and initiative. Students receive a special certificate.
Reading Certificates - As students progress through our school reading program they are awarded certificates when they reach certain levels in the program. These certificates are usually awarded to students in Years P-3.
Endurance Running Certificates - Students participate in endurance running as part of the school’s Daily P.E. program. When they reach a certain distance, they are awarded a certificate. The first award presented is the 50 km award and this is followed by 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000-kilometre awards.
Exemplary Behaviour Certificates – These are awarded to students who show exemplary behaviour and a positive attitude in line with the five foundations (the Goondi 5) of our Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students.
Australian Competition Certificates – Throughout the year many of our students take part in the Australian Mathematics, English, Science and Writing competitions. Students who score well in these are awarded certificates of High Distinction, Distinction and Credit. Any student who obtains the top mark in the state is awarded a special medal.
Poetry Competition – Every year the school holds a poetry competition (Poetry Idol) for all year levels. Students compete in four different categories. Students who place first, second or third in their category are awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal.
Prep News
Week 6 already!
For the past two weeks, we have continued to do our weekly writing tasks. In the last week, student have been ticking their checklist during writing activities. Students check to see if they have a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop, sounded out words and used sight words. They really enjoy checking their work and correcting if need to do so. Student will begin to use their sight words booklets to help when they are writing their sentences. They also read their sentences back to see if they make sense. We have learnt the following Letterland Characters – Harry Hatman, Clever Cat, Kicking King, Eddy Elephant and Dippy Duck. In class we have focused on Word Families such as, at – rat, an – van, and et - jet . This week, Prep classes are introduced to reading groups in our own classrooms. So, far in Casey Caterpillar Handwriting students have learnt twig, tunnel, gate, open mouth, Sammy snake and gumnut cup.
Maths activities have been so much fun! The last couple of weeks students learnt numbers six and seven. They are currently counting, reading, writing and represent numbers to eight. Students have also learnt Positional Terms, 2D shapes, More/Less and Sorting and Describing the Rule.
Both Prep classes continue to revise the Goondi 5 Rules daily (Get Organised, Show Respect, Be Safe, Work Hard, and Bounce Back) this reminds us of the classroom expectations.
Prep staff are happy to see students adapting very well to their classroom routines. They have become very independent and are well organised and ready for their classroom activities. Great work students, for returning homework each day.
Just a reminder we have School Photos on Thursday the 9th of March. Please have students dressed in full uniform and refer to Photo envelope to order and payment of photos.
Yours in Prep
Mrs Myers, Mrs Barba, Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Tanti 😊
Year 1 News
Wow, we are in Week 6 already! Time sure does fly when you're having fun.
This week in Maths we are solving addition problems, getting to know all the Australian coins, understanding positional language and putting our problem solving skills to the test. Everyday we are practicing our skip counting and getting faster at recalling all of our doubles and friends of ten addition facts.
Our writing is coming along nicely and we are creating interesting imaginative narratives. This week our characters are caught in a storm. You may see some onomatopoeias popping up in our stories. Tune in next week for examples of our fantastic writing. We are continuing to practice our chopping and blending skills as we learn new digraphs and blends. This week we have learnt the long a sound using the spelling choice ai and ay.
Science is always interesting and this week we are learning all about how the weather can have an affect on animals. We learnt that some people believe that if you see black cockatoos, it means big rain is coming. Hope they stay away for a bit!
Hayley, Leigh, Wendy, Kimberley, Fiona and Anita.
Year 2 News
Hi from Year 2!
Hard to believe that it is Week 6 already. Very soon we will be thinking about our end of term assessments, which is always an exciting time. Term 1 is a non-reporting term, so there is no report card issued, but the assessment will still provide great data for helping shape the delivery of our teaching. We will also be able to discuss results with you in week 10, when we have our parent-teacher interviews.
We are still doing exciting things in all of our subjects, including experiments in Science, and exploring our world in HaSS. We are also doing a new topic each week for our Imaginative Recount writing in English. This week is all about secret agents!
A reminder as well that Library is on Mondays. Some students are not bringing their books on Monday morning, and overdue books mean that they are unable to borrow any more. Also if your student does not have a library bag, they are able to borrow books, but will not be able to bring them home.
Nathan Worth, Robyn Scheiwe, Kathy Pike and Jeanette Spataro.
Year 3 News
Grade 3s still have their heads down and pencils going. Our narratives are getting better as we remember to follow the structure and add what the characters see, hear and feel. Writing becomes as exciting as soaring on a magic carpet above house tops and mountain peaks, when we add similes and descriptive vocabulary. This week our independent writing task will be titled ‘The Storm’ and there will be lots of things characters can see, hear and feel during a raging thunder storm. Week 7 will challenge us because we are going to write both genres, expositions and narratives as a last minute preparation for Naplan.
Maths has us revising chance and data concepts before moving onto geometry concepts. We are using the bar model to solve problems and getting better at identifying that difference, left and how many more means to use subtraction when calculating the answers.
The assessment for the Technology unit will start this week. Students are expected to work independently demonstrating their skills and knowledge of the program Scratch.
Until next time, Lisa, Deb, Janelle, and Amanda.
Year 4 News
Year 5 News
Students are continuing to work hard at developing and consolidating their learning in all subjects for their forthcoming end-of-term tests and NAPLAN. Our mid-term keys have been administered and students are aware of how they need to improve to reach an A key. Personal goals have been set to attain key success.
In English, students are now working hard to consolidate and develop writing skills in preparation for NAPLAN. Students are learning how to structure an emotive argument and conclusion for an exposition. They will be arguing for or against computer games and justifying whether graffiti is art or vandalism.
In Maths, we continue our focus on measuring and drawing angles, solving equations with unknown values, order of operations and interpreting column graphs to determine statistical data.
Students continue to research and communicate how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples use observations of the night sky to inform decisions about resources and significant cultural events. They will listen to Aboriginal Dreamtime stories about star constellations such as the Celestial Emu. Students will identify the significance of the Southern Cross constellation to Indigenous groups and will investigate how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples used the night sky to assist with navigation.
Please do not hesitate to drop in or contact us if you have any questions. Thank you for your support.
Cheers for now, Kayla, Rebecca & Janette.
Year 5/6 & 6 News
We’re more than half-way through Term 1 already and students are continuing to work hard at developing and consolidating their learning in all subjects for their upcoming end-of-term tests. Our Year 5 students in the cohort are also preparing for their NAPLAN tests, which are also scheduled before the end of term. Students have reflected on their key levels as well, and are aware of what they need to do to reach their goals by the end of term.
In English, we continue to write weekly, consistently improving our writing each time, assisted by writing, punctuation and grammar lessons, as well as activities in Writer’s Toolbox and carefully considered feedback. Students are also always encouraged to re-read and edit their work and identify the areas they need to improve in order to “bump up” their writing to the next level.
In Maths, we’re continuing to explore new areas, as well as reviewing and consolidating topics already covered, in preparation for end-of-term assessment. The Term 1 Maths assessment is so valuable for teachers to be able to get a specific view of both student and whole class strengths and weaknesses, so we can forward-plan for the rest of the year.
In HASS we are exploring the United Nations – looking at its role and functions, its priorities and how it supports indigenous cultures around the world. In Science we’ve been experimenting with conductors and insulators, and looking at renewable energy sources.
And in Design and Technology, we continue to explore sustainability as it applies to food and fibre, with students asking a lot of “I wonder” questions as they learn.
As always, a healthy breakfast and lunch, and enough sleep at night, are vital to help our students learn. Thank you all for your support as we’re making our way through the last year of primary school. Please do not hesitate to drop in or contact us if you have any questions.
Melanie Worth, Tjaart Richards and Janette McClelland.
Library News
Its been a hive of activity in the Goondi Library so far this term. All classes regularly attend each week not only to borrow and return books, but to be read an appropriate story relevant to their year level and/or genre writing area. Last week we celebrated Queensland School Library Week and on March 9th we will recognise Australian Reading Hour. Australian Reading Hour is a national day dedicated to sharing the joys of books, reading and stories. We ask parents and guardians to spend one hour on the day reading, sharing and enjoying the stories they love with their children! Could I please also encourage all parents and guardians to ensure their children’s library bags are brought to school on their allocated library day. Any concern with overdue books please contact me directly in the library. I would also like to introduce you to our Goondi Library Monitors for Term 1. These keen students from Year 4 & 5 volunteer their time at lunch to help catalogue books and keep the library organised. Thank you all, your efforts are much appreciated! If your child is in either Year 4, 5 or 6 and is interested in taking on this role for Term 2, please ask them to come and have a chat with me!
Francesca Rosa
The Arts/Librarian
Our Year 4 & 5 Library Monitors for Term 1.
L.O.T.E News
Saluti (Greetings)
Year 5 and 6 students at Goondi State School learn to communicate in Italian by being encouraged to speak, listen, read and write.
Year 5 students are learning Saluti (Greetings) and responding to Che classe fai? (What grade are you in?). Year 6 students are learning about some famous Carnevale characters: Arlecchino and Colombina. Students are identifying the regions in Italy these characters come from and how to describe them. Year 5 and 6 students are completing a rivision exercise to assist their learning. All students are enhancing their fluency and pronunciation by learning the Italian alphabet and songs.
Exercise books are collected regularly with expectations that students follow the school’s bookwork policy. Feedback is provided. Encourage your child to speak Italian with you and discuss what they are learning!
Arrivederci (Goodbye)
Signora Lazzarini
Community News
Well Women’s Clinic - Innisfail Hospital
(This clinic is available to Medicare eligible clients) Monday 20th March 2023
Service includes Cervical Screening Tests (Pap Smears), Sexual Health Screening, Breast Awareness, also info on Contraception, Continence, Menopause, Lifestyle Issues, Domestic Violence, etc. All services are provided by a specially trained Women’s Health Nurse.
For appointments please phone 4016 1312 / 4016 1435