Goondi SS Newsletter 26.10.23

Day for Daniel

Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day

Friday 27 October, 2023

Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe.  Parents, carers, and educators are encouraged to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety. Schools and early learning centres conduct child safety education activities. Businesses and community come together to raise awareness of child safety issues. 

Day for Daniel is the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s biggest fundraiser each year. Your support through fundraising helps us 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.

125th Celebrations

Uniform Shop

Curriculum

The Australian Curriculum sets the goal for what all students should learn as they progress through their school life – wherever they live in Australia and whichever school they attend. Next year, we will implement the updated V9 Curriculum in English. To align with the new curriculum, we need to update some aspects of our literacy block and the types of texts used to teach reading in P-2.

• Reading is a skill that impacts all aspects of life. All students need to be explicitly taught to read.
• Unlike speaking and listening which are biologically primary skills, reading is not a natural skill and involves students developing skills in word reading and language comprehension.
• The contribution of these skills in reading varies across year levels as students progress from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’.
• Through reading students are able to become life-long learners.

• There is a strengthened focus on phonics, including explicit and systematic phonics instruction of sound (phoneme)/ letter (grapheme) correspondence using decodable texts.
• References to predictable texts, three-cueing and analytic phonics have been removed and assessments that monitor these no longer align with the curriculum

• We have done a lot of preparation to ensure a smooth transition to evidence informed literacy instruction for P-2 in 2024.
• The teachers have had extensive Professional Development in implementing decodable texts as part of a structured literacy block.
• Students will not be introduced to levelled texts, they will not have levelled texts for home reading, students will not be asked to memorise sight words and we will no longer complete PM Benchmarking.
• Goondi has chosen to use texts from Decodable Readers Australia as their core reading program in 2024. Students in P-2 will bring home parent information early in Term 1.
• Decodable texts are temporary reading instruction tools designed to help children practice reading words with letters/ sounds and irregular high frequency words they have learned.
• Unlike “natural” or “predictable texts that contain a large number of letter/ sound correspondences that children have not yet learned, decodable texts allow novice readers to keep their focus on the internal structure of the word and use their phonics knowledge to identify the word.

School Calendar

Fri 27th Oct - Day for Daniel (Wear Red)

Fri 27th Oct - World Teachers Day

Mon 30th Oct - Grandparents Day Picnic (11am - 11:30am)

Sat 4th Nov - 125th Celebrations

Tues 7th Nov - Melbourne Cup

Prep Capers

In English, we have been learning the structure of persuasive texts. We are expressing our opinions on lots of different topics, explaining the reasons why we have that opinion and attempting to get the reader to agree with us. The students are enjoying talking about what they think and why.

We are continuing to work on reading in small groups and we are seeing some very pleasing progress this term. Our fluency and expression are increasing as is our ability to talk about what we have read and answer questions about texts.

Correct letter formation is an area where lots of us could improve so if you are looking to help your child with getting ready for grade one this would be an ideal place to start.

In Math, we have begun looking at worded math stories and how to represent them as number problems. We are also looking at multiple choice problems to become familiar with them and how to find the correct answer.

It is beginning to get warmer so please make sure your child has a named drink bottle each day so we can stay hydrated.

As always, if you have questions or concerns or wish to share some information with us, please make contact with us to arrange a suitable time to talk.

Thank you

Mrs. Myers, Mrs. Barba, Mrs. Ferguson and Mrs. Tanti

Year 1 Capers

WOW! Week 4 already. It’s full steam ahead in Year 1. We have been so busy writing our imaginative narratives. This week the students have been excited to write their own story based around the popular character, Hush, from Possum Magic. We are excited to read about all the exciting adventures that Hush will get up to. Students are encouraged to use challenge words such as courageous and adventurous.

In Maths we are learning how to count collections of coins, giving and taking directions, related subtraction facts, collecting and comparing data and problem solving.

In Science we understand the difference between loud and soft sounds and also the different pitch that sound can make. 

In HAAS we are continuing to investigate the different types of weather and how it can affect our lives.

We are learning how to be safe in our community in Health by learning all about bike safety. We have also been getting organised for the 125 year school celebration.

Have a great week!

Hayley, Leigh, Wendy, Ash, Fiona and Anita.

Year 2 Capers

Hi from Year 2!!

It’s finally warming up out there! This is a great time to make sure that your learner has a hat with them, to be able to participate fully in PE, as well as play time. The best option is a Goondi State School hat with the logo, available from the Uniform Shop (please contact the office for details and hours), however if they don’t have this then any broad brimmed hat will be ok. Caps are not allowed. Sun safety is an important part of our environment, and we want all of our learners to be able to join in.

Term 4 is always a big one for assessment as we make sure that our learners are ready for Year 3. Attendance every day is a huge factor in success, so ensure your learner is here every day they can be. Coming up soon we have some PAT testing (Progressive Achievement) which will be done here at school on the computers. This provides another data point when we are looking at grades, so it’s important for students to have a go. We will try and let you know the exact day of the test in advance.

Don’t forget Homework is due every Friday, and will be sent home on Monday. Doing this Homework regularly will help the students perform better in their spelling test, done every Friday morning. We thank you for your cooperation in this.

Regards,

Nathan Worth, Robyn Scheiwe, Kathy Pike and Jeanette Spataro.

Year 3 Capers

These past few weeks, we have been working hard on practising for our monologue speeches. It is amazing to see the growth in confidence from the students. We continue to deconstruct the structure of an imaginative recount and are looking at the resolution paragraph this week. We are noticing improvements with sentence structure.

In Maths, we are revising money and chance and data. We will continue to revise topics before our assessment such as measurement and place value. We are slowly beginning our testing period, with the statistics and probability test in Week 5. We are well underway with our technology unit now and have started discussions around what item of clothing we can repurpose to make our bag. We will be using this bag for a picnic.

Science this term has included some experiments, with our favourite investigating adding a solid to a liquid. Do all liquids freeze at the same time? This week we will test the freezing point of various liquids to find out the answer.

Thank you for a great start to Term 4!

Kind Regards,

Ashley, Janelle and Amanda

Year 4 Capers

Term 4 has started with a bang, as the students prepare for Year 5 the opportunities for leadership also increase. Students have the opportunity to apply to be a Marine Eco Warrior, they will take on a leadership role within the school. They will lead and create change within Goondi State School and beyond.

Week 5 sees the school inviting all Grandparents to the school for a morning tea.

This term we are reading Rowan of Rin, a fantasy quest novel. In this the students delve into how characters are developed during a text and how they are portrayed.

In Genre Writing in Term 4 we are constructing expositions. The students are working on creating a well-structured argument with supporting facts and reinforcing their editing skills to always look at improving the quality of their work.

In Maths we have explored money problems, area, mapping and reading graduated scales. If you would like your child to have more practice on those skills please practice these on IXL.

We have started investigating erosion and weathering, including how they occur and the impact of them on the environment.

Furthering our look at the impacts on the environment, we are looking at how we can reduce our carbon footprint on the Earth, looking at sustainability, renewable verse non-renewable and what we can do better.

Until next time, Leigh, Jade & Lizette

Year 5 Capers

Welcome to Week 4 of term 4! With only 7 weeks left of the school year, we have been very busy! In English, we are reading our class story: Yong. It tells the story of a Chinese boy who came to Australia during the Gold Rush with his father, in hopes of a better life.

Our HASS unit closely aligns, looking at the Eureka Stockade and the colonies formed during that time. In science, we are exploring the three states of matter: liquid, gases and solids.

In Mathematics, we are reviewing the three bands of the Australian curriculum: Number & Algebra, Statistics & Probability and Measurement & Geometry. By the end of the year, students have practiced all year 5 concepts four times.

Week 9 will be our second round of swimming. Report cards will be sent home in Week 10.

The next few weeks are very busy weeks trying to finalise our learning to be ready for end of year assessments. Please remember, every day counts!

 Thanks, our Year 5 team:

Rebecca Nolan, Kayla Hutchins and Greg Azzopardi.

Year 6 Capers

Hello Class 6B and Class 5/6 families!

We feel as though every fortnight is a “huge” fortnight, but really, this has been a huge fortnight! English, Health, Science, Maths, HASS units are all well underway.  As this term will culminate in graduation for our 6s, assessment is the early priority and we want to finalise the bulk of this in good time. 

In English, students are planning their portfolio pieces week by week.  In Science, students are investigating matter and the three different states of matter.  The refrigerator is the perfect place to see changes between the different states!

Mr Sharrock from Innisfail State College continues to visit our classes to speak to us about some of the specifics of transition. 

And, on graduation, the first letter regarding the event itself has gone home; more details will follow in the next week.

What an exciting time!

Melanie Worth, Dominic Ward and Greg Azzopardi.

Instrumental Music

Instrumental Music Update: Percussion Workshop

On Friday of Week 3, percussion students from across the Canecutter Cluster came together to participate in a workshop with a guest musician who was visiting from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Representing Goondi State School, Elias (Year 6) learnt new ways of feeling the “groove”, and practised refining techniques on various percussion instruments. The students were impressed by Jacob Enoka’s skill on mallet instruments and enjoyed exploring new repertoire with him. Following this session, Elias also participated in a workshop and concert with Jacob and the Innisfail Community Band over the weekend. We are grateful to the Innisfail Community Band for applying for grant funding which made this event possible. It is always special when students have the opportunity to work so closely with a professional on their instrument, and it was a successful few days of music-making.

FNQ String Music Camp

Salina Wirth was one of three talented string students from our region selected to participate in the FNQ String Music Camp at Smithfield State High School on 12^th & 13^th October. 110 string students from as far south as Innisfail and north to Wonga Beach gathered to workshop with Jonny NG, a respected educator from Brisbane. Jonny NG is Principal Second Violin and Education Manager for Camerata as well as strings and piano teacher at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School. Salina worked intensely under his baton, rehearsing for 7 hours. To demonstrate the fruition of their hard work, students presented a first-class concert for parents and family at the end of the camp. Well done Salina!

L.O.T.E News

Benvenuti (Welcome).  By speaking, writing and listening the years 5 and 6 Italian classes at Goondi State School are furthering their knowledge of the Italian language.  They are continuing to listen to and understand how to use words in phrases and sentences.

Year 5 students are revising two tables to understand nouns and adjectives in Italian.  They are learning how to use personal pronouns and to conjugate verbs in simple sentences about common pastimes.  Year 6 students are enhancing their knowledge of Italian by using personal pronouns, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to create sentences about activities carried out in free time.

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

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