GSS Newsletter Term 1 Week 4

From Leadership

Dear Parents and Carers,

Once again, we have had a very productive and busy 2-week period at our fantastic school.  Our team of dedicated staff continue to work very hard to ensure that every one of our students succeeds in achieving to the best of their ability.  It has been fantastic to see such a smooth start to the 2024 school year, and the full implementation of our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) program. Our three pillars, which were voted on by staff and students in 2023, are: We are Safe, We are Respectful and We are Learners. Our mascot, Lyssi, is proudly displayed and represented in and around our school encouraging all students to, “Fly like Lyssi.”

On Monday week 3, we commenced our week with the first of our explicit PBL lessons which was: we are safe, and we are respectful before school.  This week our focus is we are safe and we are respectful after school.

In class, our pedagogies including Explicit Instruction, Inquiry learning and Daily Review continue a strong focus on every student participating and engaging with learning. One Voice classrooms ensure that everyone is contributing and participating. The use of personal whiteboards is another strategy that offers inclusion and active participation by everyone.

In our classrooms, it is always pleasing to see Goondi students working hard, remaining on task, asking for help when needed and striving to be the best that they can be.  This has definitely been the case for the first 4 weeks of 2024. I am constantly reminded of what a privilege it is to work in education when I see our students engaged, learning and participating in all areas of our school.

Our students conduct and engagement with learning across the school has been exemplary. Our staff are very proud of them – Well done Goondi Students!

Kind regards,

Khadeeja Mohammed and Katherine Long

School Calendar

Thurs 15th Feb - Netball District Trials

Fri - 16th Feb - Student Investiture

Mon 19th Feb - P&C Meeting/AGM

Tues 20th Feb - Sports Spectacular (years4-6)

Wed 21st Feb - Rugby League Gala Day

Fri 1st Mar - Clean Up Australia Day

Wed 6th Mar - Bruce & Denise Morcombe visit

Thur 7th Mar - School Photos

Wed 13th Mar - NAPLAN begins

Mon 18th Mar - P&C Meeting

Mon 25th Mar - Inter-House Cross Country

Tues 26th Mar - Parent Teacher Interviews

Thurs 28th Mar - Term 1 ends

Fri 29th Mar- GOOD FRIDAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY

PBL Focus

Every Monday morning the whole school starts the week with explicit lessons which provide opportunities for students to learn and practice responsible behaviours which reflect our three pillars:

We are Safe, We are Respectful, and We are Learners.

The students are working hard to collect their Lyssi tokens to contribute to their whole class rewards.

Week 3 was 'We are safe and we are respectful before school'.

Week 4 - 'We are safe and we are respectful after school'. 

Other School News

STUDENT LEADER INVESTITURE

On assembly tomorrow, we will be holding our Investiture to formally recognise our 2024 Student Leaders.  Goondi State School looks forward to welcoming our 2018 School Captains John Cunningham and Stephanie Sambo as they return to Goondi to take part and give our leaders their badges. 

SCHOOL PHOTOS

School photos will be taken on Thursday 7^th March.  The photos will be taken by NQ School Photography.  Forms have already been sent home and allows you to choose which pack and design you would like to order.

Please make orders and payment online using the details provided.  We do also have forms at school to order sibling photos that can be requested, but this can also be done online.

Students are to be in full school uniform and we recommend that students bring a comb or brush to school on the day to assist with grooming prior to class and portrait photos.

INTER-HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY

Our first athletics event for the year, our Inter-House Cross Country will take place on Monday 25th March.

All students participate in our cross country from Prep right through to Year 6. All of the cross country courses are within the school grounds. The day will commence with the Prep event at 9:00am and then proceed up the grades concluding with the 12 year old event at around 10:45am.

Our students are training during their morning endurance runs and have been made familiar with the course in readiness for the cross country day. As in past years, we expect all students to participate and we are immensely proud of the number of students who participate and complete the course. The event is structured in such a way that every student who finishes, regardless of where they finish, scores points for their house.

The top four place getters in the 10,11 and 12 year old divisions will represent the school at the district cross country to be held next term .

We encourage all students to wear their house colours on the day.

These are:

Palmerston – Red,

Johnstone – Green,

Geraldton – Yellow.

Students must wear joggers to compete in the cross country.

ATTENDANCE

At the time of writing, our current attendance rate is 91.4% which while encouraging, is just short of our target figure of 95%.   A number of our classes have achieved outstanding attendance rates with many in the high 90’s. The classes with the highest attendance rate for the month of February will be announced on Assembly.  For the first time since the pandemic, at the end of the term we will be presenting every student who has achieved a 95%+ attendance rate with a special wristband. 

NAPLAN DATES

Parents are reminded that national testing (NAPLAN) for students in Years 3 and 5 will be held during 13^th to the 22^nd of March. 

STUDENT SAFETY

Parent Pick Up and Staff Car Park

We ask that parents do not enter the school via the staff car park gate but use one of the three other entrances instead. Once again it is about modelling the correct behaviour to ensure the safety of your children.

Parents wishing to enter the school, please do not use the 5 minute parking bays as at pick up times as this causes a safety issue for our students leaving school.

Parent Pick-Up Area

The school has a designated Parent Pick-Up area (next to the adventure playground) and a bus waiting area (near C Block). Both these areas are supervised by teachers in the afternoons.

NAPLAN 2024 – Public Demonstration Site

Please see the below extract from the site and a link to take you to it:

https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site

The public demonstration tests show the types of questions students will answer and the functionalities that are available in NAPLAN tests.

Students can do the standard tests or they can do a test with accessible alternative items:

• The visual alternative tests include some items with simplified images (numeracy and reading).
• The tests with audio alternative items have text-based items instead of audio dictation items (conventions of language).
• The colour theme tests have different coloured fonts and backgrounds (all domains).

It is recommended that students, their parents/carers and schools discuss the best way for students with disability to access NAPLAN.  Visit Accessibility to learn more. 

While these demonstration tests are not tailored tests, example branching messages are included for familiarisation. Branching messages (PDF 2 MB) advise students whether they may go back to previous testlets to change their answers, or not. 

What’s new in the demonstration tests?

There is now a narrative task and a persuasive task for students to practise. Only one of these tasks will be tested in NAPLAN 2024, and this will be revealed on the day of the assessment.

Students will now start the conventions of language test with the spelling items and finish with the grammar and punctuation items. 

There are now different narrator voices for the audio items. Some students may benefit from listening to the voice change from one item to another. They can do so by listening to the numeracy items or the audio dictation items in the conventions of language tests. 

Prep Capers

The last two weeks have been busy in prep as students have learned their first six letter sounds and are starting to blend these sounds into words ready to start reading. It is very exciting for the students to be taking their first steps as readers. 

During writing, students are working on creating simple I am... sentences when writing about their weekend and in response to stories. We are focusing on handwriting and forming letters correctly in these words as well as identifying the first sound in the words we are writing.

Students are learning the numbers to ten including how to write and represent these numbers in a number of ways.  Students are starting to learn the foundations of measurement by comparing items that are big and small, heavy and light and tall and short. These have led to some exciting real world lessons in the playground using sand and water to compare weights. 

Looking forward to the next steps in learning

The prep team

Year 1 Capers

The grade ones have been busy bees working hard in all areas and always trying their best.

In Writing, we are having a go at writing an imaginative recount independently.  We are seeing great ideas emerge and correct use of punctuation and spelling has been impressive.

In Maths this week we introduced place value through the use of MAB blocks. The students have been doing lots of hands on activities with the MAB blocks to develop a deeper understanding of place value. We also introduced the concept of subtraction and practiced writing subtraction number sentences. The students are working hard to learn their rainbow facts and 3D shapes and have quick and accurate recall of these. Ask your child to find you one of their favourite 3D shapes in everyday objects!

In History this week the students have looked at toys of the past and enjoyed a game of marbles. If you have not yet found some photos of your child’s family tree please start looking, this could be a good time to discuss how your child fits in to the tree.

Leigh, Steven and Fiona.

Year 2 Capers

What an amazing start to Year 2! It’s great to see the students in Year 2 settled and getting stuck into their learning.

In English, we have been having fun reading classic fairy tales such as Goldilocks and The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. We have been exploring the concept of an adapted narrative, by using our knowledge of narrative story structure to rewrite a fairy tale, with a twist! We loved reading Goldilocks and the Three Crocodiles and it was great to see our students come up with imaginative ideas for their own writing such as, Goldilocks the Goldfish and The Three Eels.

In Mathematics, we have been continuing our practice with number and place value by expanding three-digit numbers, counting forwards and backwards in tens and writing three-digit numbers. We have also been learning about the features of a calendar and creating and interpreting picture graphs.

Science sees us exploring how we can change the properties of a range of everyday materials without changing their physical composition. We have changed paper by layering it with glue to make it stronger and wrapped cardboard in plastic to make it waterproof. All of this knowledge will help your child select the most suitable materials to design and build a strong, wind resistant and waterproof house for the Three Little Pigs!

 Just a reminder that homework is handed out on Mondays and returned to school on Friday for marking. Please contact your child’s teacher on Class Dojo, email or by contacting the office if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you to all parents for their support and commitment to your child’s learning.

Year 2 team,

Miss Vandal, Mrs Pike and Mrs Spataro.

Year 3 Capers

We are almost to the middle of Term 1 and are settling into Year three expectations. Thank you for your support at home and getting students organised for each day. This week we move on to narrative writing and deconstruct the Introduction. We have learned that an Introduction needs: when, who, where, why, and what the character sees, hears and feels. Next week, we will unpack a narrative further and write many complications, exploring onomatopoeia, speech, describing the problem and giving details about what the character sees, hears and feels.

Week 4’s Maths concept is measurement. We are investigating when to use millimetres, centimetres, metres and kilometres. Do you know where one metre comes up to on your body? Some of us do. We will also delve into mass and capacity and establish benchmarks for these units. Next week, our focus will turn to money and calculating change from $1 and $2. We are currently learning the five times tables.

Technology this week is the beginning of our assessment. We are planning what number fact questions we will ask in our game, along with our welcome message. Our next step is to select a suitable sprite and background for the setting of our game.

Until next time, Ashley, Robyn, Janelle and Amanda.

Year 4 Capers

What an awesome start to Term 1.

In English, we have been looking at narratives. Students are continuing to read the novel Matilda.

This fortnight in Maths students have been exploring fractions, mass, the bar model strategy and ordering numbers.

In Science, we have been busy investigating properties of materials as well as, biodegradability. Students are currently conducting an experiment on the biodegradability of different materials.

In Technology, student have designed their bridges and have identified the material that they will need. Construction of bridges will start in Week 6. Please ensure you are still collecting recyclable materials and that students are bring them into school.

Library times have changed for this term. Grade 4’s will be having library every second Friday. Even weeks 4A has library and odd weeks 4B has library.

Sports Spectacular is approaching fast. Please ensure your child brings their signed permission form back by Friday the 16^th of February.

Jade, Jenna and Rhonda

Year 5 Capers

What a busy start to Term 1!

Year 5 are working very hard to improve our writing stamina for NAPLAN. This includes typing stories from a picture prompt and using correct punctuation and grammar in our writing. We are also working on editing, to find mistakes and improve the meaning of our story.

In Mathematics, we have been looking at all three strands of the curriculum: number and algebra, statistics and probability and measurement and geometry. Students have been working on the order of operations (BOMDAS), 24 hour time, properties of 3D shapes and many more.

In Science we are learning about Earth’s place in the solar system.

HASS, we are looking at determining the difference between needs and wants and how to save money on understanding what we need.

Kayla, Rebecca and Rhonda

Year 6 Capers

It’s such a cliché, but the weeks really are flying past! We’re already four weeks into Term 1 and we’re all making the most of our time at school.

In Maths, students have been continuing their understanding of factors and multiples, fractions, 3D shapes such as prisms and pyramids, and double-bar graphs. Each week the Maths homework reflects concepts we’ve been working on in class, and our students are always reminded that if they are not sure how to complete the Maths homework, they can ask their teacher for help. We’ve also introduced some Maths strategies, such as Friendly Jumps and Friendly Pairs, as well as a structure called RESCUE. These specific names might not be familiar to you, but they are nothing new! Just helpful ways of organising our thinking and working out. We will continue to practice and revise this throughout the year, and they will be useful tools for students to use going forward into high school.

In English the “Scarecrow Army” are in Gallipoli, Turkey, and as students are writing Historical Recounts this term, there has been much discussion about historical accuracy.

In Science, we’ve continued to explore different natural disasters, and it won’t be long before our students can make sense of all those squiggly lines on the map during TV weather reports!

Thank you so much to those parents who have been in contact via ClassDojo with any questions or comments. Our students always perform best when we all work as a team!

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Worth, Mr Worth and Mrs Wolff.

Curriculum News

Strive-for-Five

Oral language is considered the foundation of the “Super Six” skills children need to support reading and writing development.

Oral language is a complex mix of skills which range from making meaning to understanding when to talk and when to listen. It is well-known that encouraging young children to talk and listen improves their ability to communicate. A powerful tool aligned with the science of reading is the “Strive-for-Five” framework. This framework encourages turn-taking conversations which start with the adult/ parent/ carer asking an open-ended question then responding to what the child says. This continues as the adult listens and responds over five turns—with the goal of stretching the child’s talking and thinking, knowledge, vocabulary, reasoning, and other skills that underpin reading success.

As adults use the framework to build students’ knowledge, vocabulary, reasoning, and other skills that underpin reading success, they'll also see students’ confidence grow as they share their individual stories, ideas, and questions.

Next time your child comes home and shares their work or news of their day, instead of saying “Good job” or “Great work” try to ask a question and see where the conversation goes.

Sports News

Hi everyone,

This is a reminder that there are many Peninsula Trials and Sports Carnivals in first term. All information has been handed out to students re: Rugby and Netball Trials. Please be aware that Touch, Golf, Tennis and Squash will be happening over the next few weeks. If your child may be interested in any of these, ask them to come and see me. Also, please see the information on our school facebook site and on Class Dojo. If you need to find the Peninslua Student Permission Booklet, it is downloadable from the goondiss.eq.edu.au website. Look under “Support and Resources” then “Forms and Documents”,then “Documents”.

Tiffanie Bulstrode,

Phys. Ed Teacher.

L.O.T.E News

Saluti (Greetings)

It is a pleasure to be at Goondi State School teaching students Italian in years 5 and 6 this year.  Students learning Italian listen to, speak, read and say Italian to gain understanding.

In our Italian lessons we will continue learning Italian songs.  Songs help to enhance pronunciation and increase fluency.  Ask the students to sing the songs to you.  Year 5 students are learning to answer “Come ti chiami?” - “What’s your name?” and “Come stai?” - “How are you?” Year 6 students are learning how to complete conversations between two or more people using known and new vocabulary. 

Exercise books will be collected regularly and feedback provided.  Encourage your child to speak Italian with you and discuss what they are learning!

Arrivederci (Goodbye)

Signora Lazzarini

Community News

FOR PARENTS OF CATHOLIC CHILDREN

Enrolments are still being taken for the Sacramental Program for 2024. If you have a child who has been baptised Catholic and will be in year 4 this year (or an older grade) then please contact Angie at the Parish Office on 40630650 or call in to fill in an enrolment form as soon as possible.

The Sacramental Program includes the Sacraments of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Confirmation and the Sacrament of Eucharist. There will be an Information Session on Monday 19th February at 5.15pm in Mother of Good Counsel Church to meet you and your child and to provide an overview of the year. Please note the change of time.

Donna Vecchio

Sacramental Coordinator