Goondi SS Newsletter 22.11.23

From Leadership

Dear Parents and Carers,

Week 38 – our school year is almost complete and we now only have 2 more weeks to ensure a fantastic end to the year for our students.  

Our students and teachers are currently focussed on assessment and reporting and as we visited class rooms this fortnight, we have witnessed students actively engaged in their learning and completing assessment tasks.   

Our end of year awards ceremonies will be held in the last week of school on Thursday 7^th of December. The awards ceremonies will take place separately, with the first ceremony being Prep to Year 5 and the second Year 6.  Both ceremonies will take place in our Multi-Purpose Hall.  The Prep to Year 5 ceremony will commence at 2:00pm and the Year 6 ceremony at 6:00pm.  The year 6 graduating class dinner will be at Brothers Innisfail at 7:30pm.  Families of year 6 students have received specific information about this. 

Our award ceremonies allow us to highlight and acknowledge those students who have excelled in a range of academic learning areas, and to present our graduating Year 6 students with their graduation certificates. Our student leaders for 2024 will also be announced at our awards ceremony, starting at 2:00pm. 

Our Pre-Prep Program has concluded for the year and continues to be hugely popular. This year we saw more than 60 students participating in the program. The program helps us to begin positive relationships with new parents and students and has ensured that many of our families now have a better understanding of some of the school practices and programs.   

Congratulations to all our students for your achievements. Your hard work, performance and commitment to learning is outstanding. Thank you to all our staff for your dedication and passion for education, all our Goondi students are very fortunate to have such a committed team of educators. Parents and caregivers thank you for your ongoing support to your child/children’s learning journey throughout this year.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our awards ceremonies in the final week of term. 

Regards,

Tania Kaitara and Khadeeja Mohammed

Principal and Deputy Principal

School Calendar

Fri 24th Nov - Swimming (Year 2, 4, selected 5&6)

Mon 27th Nov - Prep Vision Screening

Mon 27th Nov - Swimming (Year 2, 4, selected 5&6)

Tues 28th Nov - Swimming (Year 2, 4, selected 5&6)

Tues 28th Nov - Year 6 Orientation Day (ISC)

Wed 29th Nov - Swimming (Year 2, 4, selected 5&6)

Thu 30th Nov - Swimming (Year 2, 4, selected 5&6)

Mon 4th Dec - BraveHearts Visit (Prep, 1 & 2)

Mon 4th Dec - Bump it Up Day

Tues 5th Dec - A Key Rewards Excursion

Tues 5th Dec - Report Cards Sent Home

Wed 6th Dec - Newsletter Flyer

Thu 7th Dec - Awards Day/Night

Fri 8th Dec - Last Day Assembly / Lolly Drop

Curriculum Capers

Automatic word recognition is required to facilitate reading comprehension.

To be recognized instantly, words must be stored in long-term memory as wholes, where the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning are fused together.  The whole word must be “mapped” into your child’s memory as an integrated unit.

 The process of storing words for instant recognition follows the same instructional sequence for decodable (highly phonetically regular) words and less decodable (phonetically less regular) words.

In order to read words, children need to:

1. access the sounds (phonemes) in the spoken word
2. map the sounds (phonemes) to letters (graphemes)
3. spell and write the word to dictation
4. practice the word in lists, phrases, sentences and decodable books

 These practices move words into long term memory and lead to fluent reading and comprehension.

It is the same process for highly regular and less regular words.  These practices establish the neural connectivity among the letters, sounds, and meaning of the word.

It is the same process for highly regular and less regular words.

The lower the frequency of the word, and the more irregular spelling representations in the word, the more repetitions that will be needed and the longer it will take to store the word as a whole unit in long-term memory.  This requires multiple meaningful exposures and interactions with the word.

Through studying the processes in the brain when children are reading, the Science of Reading has established that the process of becoming a word that is recognized instantly does not involve:

1. memorizing whole words
2. drawing a box around the shape of the word
3. guessing based on context clues

The result is storage of the precise string of letters in memory as a whole word, but the process to get there doesn’t involve memorizing whole words.

 A sight word is a word that has been mapped for automatic access and instant recognition. High frequency and low frequency words can be sight words. Regular and irregular words can be sight words. Every word wants to be a sight word when it grows up.

*Expression first used by Dr. Jan Wasowicz

Prep Capers

As the term is wrapping up, we are working on completing assessments. Today we were building our windchimes for our science unit. We have been looking at the properties of different materials and what they can be used for. We talked about how things move and how materials can change and be useful in a different context. The students were asked to evaluate lots of different items to determine what things would be suitable to add to their windchime. They were looking for waterproof things that would be light enough to hang and move in the wind as well as being eye-catching or make a lovely sound.

Here are a few examples of our windchimes.

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, we are in Week 8 already! Time flies when you are having fun.

We have been very busy completing all our assessments this week. The students should be very proud of themselves. They have worked very hard to learn new content and it has shown in the growth that they have made this year. In the coming weeks we will be consolidating and reviewing content.

Just a reminder to all students to bring in some recyclable materials so that you can build your own Alien (please see note that was sent home this week)

Thanks you for all your support this year. We wish the Year 1 cohort all the very best for the remainder of their schooling. We look forward to seeing their future achievements around the school.

Happy Holidays!

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

Year 2 Capers

Hi from Year 2!

This is the last Classroom Capers for the year, so from all of us in Year 2 we would like to thank you for the past year. We have seen lots of growth from our students, and have engaged in lots of learning. While it is with mixed emotions that we farewell this cohort, we hope that they will continue their learning journey in Year 3 with the same effort and engagement that they gave Year 2. Thank you to the parents and carers who have actively engaged with the learning here at Goondi, and supported their learners with homework, lunches, hats and encouragement. It takes a village.

While assessment and reporting are almost complete for the year, school continues the same as ever. This is an opportunity to consolidate learning and prepare for Year 3, and lessons will continue until week 10. This is still important work, and attendance remains compulsory.

Our swimming starts this week, with Friday being the first day, and continuing into next week. Keep an eye out for Dojo messages if anything changes. Swimming is part of our learning, and the Goondi rules apply at the pool the same as the classroom. We would very much like to return your students in the same condition they arrived (maybe a little damp).

Once again thank you for this year, and we hope everyone has a safe and happy break. See you in 2024!

Regards,

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

Year 3 Capers

This year has flown by! We are slowly wrapping up our assessment period. Thank you for ensuring all students have been attending school as this is super important.

We have started constructing our bags, and the students are excited to test them out on our upcoming picnic. Our Science experiment, that was centred around melting chocolate, allowed us to see the time it takes to melt broken up pieces of chocolate in comparison to a full piece of chocolate.

In Maths, we are finished all assessment and are revising topics such as time, money, 3D shapes and division.

Even though we have completed our writing assessment, we are still practising our imaginative recounts and fine tuning our skills. It is interesting to read the similes and rich vocabulary that students are now adding to their work.

Kind Regards,

Ashley, Janelle and Amanda

Year 4 Capers

Term 4 is drawing to a close. Assessments are finished; the work is not over though. Students will remain working until the end of the term, preparing themselves for Grade 5. Reports will be coming home in Week 10 and you will see the incredible effort students have put into their work.

Our journey alongside Rowan in the novel Rowan of Rin is coming to an end. The students have learnt the power of persevering, achieving your goals and not letting the opinions of others hold you back.

The students have written some really wonderful expositions about a litter free lunchbox for their assessment task. They included research to support their view and how to structure their arguments to be persuasive. They have also extended their knowledge of editing and how to improve their work to add meaning and ensure it is grammatically correct.

In Maths we have explored money problems, area, mapping and reading graduated scales, probability and are now reviewing areas for improvement as the term draws to a close. If you would like your child to have more practice on those skills please practice these on IXL.

Science has seen the students conducting experiements on erosion and weather and how they occur. Not only this but linking this back to the world around us and examples they have seen personally.

Furthering our look at the impacts on the environment, we have conducted a litter audit in which the students looked at exactly how much waste the year 4 cohort produce in a single day and then what can be done to reduce the impact of our rubbish on the earth.

Both Miss Reitano and I (Miss Tredwell) would like to take this opportunity to thank all the students and parents for blessing us with the company of such truly remarkable people.

Until next time, Leigh & Jade

Year 5 Capers

Welcome to Week 8! The year has absolutely flown by. With assessment due this week and next, please remember that every day counts. Students are working through their English writing pieces to write a story as though they are a Chinese immigrant coming to Australia in search of gold.

In Maths, we have finished assessing all three strands of the Australian curriculum, however we are working through revision topics to ensure students have a solid foundation of Year 5 concepts before their final year of primary school!

Wednesday morning students who have nominated themselves would have presented their leadership speeches to all grade 4 and 5 students.  Good luck to all students participating!

For this week and next, Mrs Nolan is on leave so we have Mr Higgins in 5B.

From our team,

Kayla Hutchins, Rebecca Nolan, Ray Higgins and Greg Azzopardi.

Year 6 Capers

Hello Class 6B and Class 5/6 families!

We are now down to only two weeks before the end of term!  This means panic as we race to finish assessments and report cards.  It also means that our Year 6 students are right on the cusp of their graduating moments as they exit primary school.  Our eight Year 5 students are almost ready to head into their last year of primary school!  In fact, we just held our election to determine our student leaders for next year. 

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. Although the majority of testing is finished or in the process of being finished, we still do have two weeks of schooling remaining; these two weeks will remain dedicated to English and maths as we help prepare our students for the challenges of next year.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!

Melanie Worth, Dominic Ward and Greg Azzopardi.

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 finalising assessment and viewing a revision exercise using some learnt vocabulary and conjugated verbs in simple sentences about common pastimes.  Year 6 students are also finalising assessment, viewing a revision exercise on some known vocabulary, personal pronouns, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in 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

Community Events

Christmas Pageant Children’s Christmas Eve Mass – 6.30pm

If you would like your child to be a part of the pageant, the first practice will be on Friday 8^th December at 3.30 p.m. in Mother Good Counsel Catholic Church.  Come and be a part of the real meaning of Christmas.  The other dates for practice will be discussed on that day.

If you require further information, please contact Angie Pennisi at the Parish Centre on 40 63 0650 or Donna Vecchio 0409 586 875 or Alison McIlwain on 0414 016 904.