Goondi SS Newsletter 08.05.24

From Leadership

Dear Parents and Carers,

ATTENDANCE

As you know, attendance at school every day is important for our students to improve their learning, maintain friendships and feel a sense of belonging to the school and community. 

Our school attendance target is 95%.  At the moment, our actual attendance figure sits at 90%.  We encourage you to make every effort to have your child come to school each day so that they give themselves the best chance for a successful school year and a bright academic future.

Another big event on our calendar is our Athletics Carnival.  Our students across all year levels will be practising and training over the next few weeks.  As in previous years, we will run some of the events on Wednesday (June 12^th) and the main carnival will take place on Friday (June 14^th).  On Wednesday, selected students will run the 200m, 800m and compete in shotput.  On Friday, all other events will be held.  Parents, carers and families are welcome to attend.  On the day, we will meet on the Cavallaro Oval and hold our House War Cries from 8:50am.  The first event, sprints, will commence at 9am. 

We are grateful to our P&C who are organising tuckshop for the day.  Please look out for information from the P&C about what food will be available and how to order.  We are all looking forward to a great day. 

At Goondi, the end of this term means teachers are working on assessing each child’s learning progress and on writing comments in preparation for the Semester 1 Student Reports.  Reports will be sent home on Thursday 20^th June.

We encourage you to talk with your child about their report, discuss their success, their challenges and support them as they look forward to Semester 2. It is great to be able to celebrate accomplishments, but also important to look at areas where a child can set achievable goals.

2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge

I am delighted to invite all Goondi State School students to join in the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC).

The PRC is a way to encourage students to develop a love of reading for life. Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability and record books read during the reading period between 7 May to 23 August. Your child’s class teacher will give your child a reader record form.

To complete the challenge:

• Prep to Year 4 must read or experience at least 20 books
• Years 5 to 9 must read at least 15 books.

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2024 challenge is to encourage students to make time to read.

For suggested books or for more information about the PRC, please visit: readingchallenge.education.qld.gov.au or contact Head of Curriculum Kath Long at Goondi State School.

Every student who completes the challenge and returns the completed record reader form and consent form, will receive a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier. We look forward to seeing as many of our students as possible take part in the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge.

PREP ENROLMENTS FOR 2025

This year we will be again offering our Pre-Prep Program and a number of transition and information sessions for prospective Prep students and parents to ensure that our 2025 Prep students have the best possible start to their formal education at Goondi State School.

Is your child, or a child you know, eligible for Prep next year? We are taking enrolments from new students and students who have brothers or sisters attending the Goondi State School. They will automatically be offered a place in our 2025 Prep classes.  

We are also taking Expressions of Interest for children who live out-of-catchment and want to attend Goondi State School.  If there are vacancies, these students will also be offered a place in our 2025 Prep classes.  

Come to the office as soon as possible with your child’s details to complete an Expression of Interest form even if you are in-catchment. Our Pre-Prep program will begin in later this term.

We will be holding a Prep information session in Week 9 for both new and existing families of Goondi State School.  Details of this session will be advertised in this newsletter and Facebook.

INTER-HOUSE ATHLETICS DAY

8:50am - Students assemble in houses on the oval for war-cries

9:00am - Start

Students should wear house colours on the carnival day. 

House colours are as follows:

Geraldton – yellow

Palmerston – red

Johnstone – green

Parents are reminded that Friday is a normal school day and all students are required to attend for the full day. If you need to take your child from school early, due to illness or other family commitments, the normal procedures apply and you will have to call in at the office and sign your child out.

Under 8s

We are looking forward to a wonderful Under 8s – connecting to culture through play on 21^st May from 12:00pm-1:15pm. Please contact Mrs Barba for more information.

School Calendar

Thu 9th May- Social Media Talk (Year 5 & 6 Students)

Fri 10th May - Soccer Gala Day

Mon 13th May - Prep Vision Screening

Thu 16th May - Prep Vision Screening

Mon 20th May - Spell-a-thon words go home

Tue 21st May - Under 8's Celebration

Thu 22nd May - Fanfare IM

Fri 24th May - QSO Performance QPAC IM

Thu 6th Jun - IYPC IM

Fri 7th Jun - IYPC Choir/IYPC Band

Fri 7th Jun - Spell-a-thon Test

Wed 12th Jun - Pre-Prep Info Night

Thu 13th Jun - NAIDOC 

Prep Capers

This fortnight in English, we have introduced the clever clown poster which is a guide to help students write stories independently. We do this using sentence starters (First and Next). The students were tasked with using this model to retell the stories Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill. In creating a sentence, students have been revising capital letters, finger spacing and full stops. During DRA lessons students have been focusing their phonic sounds such as ck, sh and ch.

In Maths we have been learning addition, doubles and various ways that numbers can be represented. Students have also been exploring ways of measuring weight. They have been using scales to predict and compare heavy and light items.

This term we have introduced Science, Health and History (HASS). Students have been observing and recording the daily weather conditions and learning about sun safety. They have been exploring various family cultures and learning the difference between family celebrations and commemorations, such as Anzac Day. Also, thank you to the families who have returned their family posters. If you haven’t completed your child’s poster, could you please return soon so that your child can start oral presentations.

Thank you to our prep families for supporting your child with their daily homework.  It is also great to see students completing reading eggs and DRA lessons online from home.

Prep staff

Year 1 Capers

As we are nearly at the half-way mark in the term, all students are much more aware of the routines and expectations needed for Year One.   We have noticed all students are able to get themselves organised before school, including unpacking their bags and getting their equipment ready for the day. 

We have also noticed an improvement in concentration, as we get used to life in a classroom again. 

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

In Maths, we have been learning about skip counting or counting in 2’s and 5s’. Ask your child to have a go at skip counting for you at home. 

In Health we are learning about the different food groups students can bring in empty containers to add to our food pyramid.

In Science, we are learning all about materials. We are changing these for a purpose to make them stronger or to hold something . 

Have a great week!

Leigh, Steven and Fiona

Year 2 Capers

Hello Year 2 parents and carers and welcome to Week 4.

The Year 2’s have been very excited when studying Australian Animals, as part of our Information Report writing in English. So far, we have learnt about the cassowary, the kangaroo and now we are beginning our reports on the koala.

In Mathematics, we are continuing our learning of number and place value and beginning to explore numbers up to the thousands place. The students in Year 2 have been working very hard when learning to tell the time on an analogue clock to quarter to and quarter past. Additionally, we have been learning fractions including halves, quarters and eighths. 

Science sees us investigating the lifecycles of plants and animals. We will be planting a bean seed this week and beginning our scientific investigation, exploring how it grows and what it needs to survive.

Year 2 have been very inquisitive during our HASS lessons, where we are researching the names of suburbs, cities and streets and identifying what or who they were named after. The construction and testing of our Three Little Pigs houses are complete! The Year 2 teachers were very impressed with the skilful and thoughtful construction of the houses, with most of them withstanding water and wind (from the Big Bad Wolf). Great work Year 2!

From the Year 2 team,

Miss Vandal, Mrs Pike and Miss Spataro

Year 3 Capers

Term 2 is well underway, and the students have invested much in their learning.

We have been crafting compelling persuasive texts in English using high-modality words and an exposition structure. We have learnt to articulate our thoughts and shape opinions. We have begun practising our speaking task for this term, In Flanders Field by John McCrae.

So far in Maths, we have looked at fractions, time and measurement, and this week we are focusing on money, addition algorithms, and multiplication. We are continuing to enhance our problem-solving skills through continual real-world applications.

In Science, we have been studying the Earth’s rotation and size, as well as how day and night occur. We will be conducting a hands-on experiment on shadows using a sheet of paper and a pencil.

HASS has taught us the difference between a celebration and a commemoration, using ANZAC day as an example.

Thank you from the Year 3 Team

Year 4 Capers

What a fantastic start to Term 2!

This term in English, it’s all about the first fleet. Students are reading novels that look into the life of a child during that time. This ties into our genre writing unit of writing a historic recount. Students have been learning about the structure of writing a historic recount.

In the subject of HASS, students have learnt about the journey of the first fleet, life in England in the 1700 and mapping the world.

In Science, students have been learning all about forces. In the past 2 weeks we have looked at forces such as magnetism, friction, and contact forces. During these science lessons, students have engaged with hands on games and experiments that demonstrate these forces in action.

This fortnight in Maths students have been exploring equivalent fractions, converting between measurements and calculating perimeter.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Miss Reitano or Mrs Sulter.

Kind regards,

Miss Jade Reitano and Mrs Jenna Sulter

Year 5 Capers

Welcome to Week 4!

Our Year 5 students have been working hard to get back into learning after a very busy Week 3 on camp.

In English we are continuing to read Omar Rising. Students are very engaged with reading the novel as we discover who Omar is and the challenges he overcomes as he goes through Ghalib Academy and faces hardship. We are writing compare and contrast paragraphs to discuss similarities and differences between different topics.

In Mathematics we have been looking at time. We have been learning to convert between 24 hour time and 12 hour time. We have also been look at time duration.

In Science we are studying different adaptation animals have made to survive and thrive in their environment.

In HASS we are looking at other continents and how they compare and contrast to that of Australia.

In other news, we will be joined by Mr Charge, our pre-service teacher, in Mrs Nolan’s classroom for the next 3 weeks.  Please make him feel welcome.

Please ensure your child has a hat at school that is named to ensure they are playing safely.

Kind regards,

Kayla Hutchins, Rebecca Nolan and Rhonda O’Brien

Year 6 Capers

Welcome to Week 4, and we are already almost halfway through the term. Time flies when you’re having fun! While we have had a great start to the term, it has been a bit broken as well, through public holidays. With report cards due to go out at the end of this term, we will begin our testing in Week 7, which is suddenly very close! Please make sure students attend school at every opportunity, as every day counts, and if your learner misses a key concept it can be more difficult to gain the understanding later on. Obviously if you are sick then please stay home, but if it is possible to come then please send all students to school to get the most from the learning going on in our classrooms.

Some of the ways we can help our learners is by making sure they get enough sleep, and making sure we are making smart food choices, both for school lunches and for breakfast. If students are hungry or tired it can have a huge effect on how much learning they can do in the classroom, and attention through these weeks is vital to understanding in our assessment period. In Health this term we are learning about healthy drink choices, and the benefits and drawbacks of choosing one drink over another. This will make for great discussion with your child about healthy food choices as well.

Please keep discussing school with your learner, and staying active in their education. With our writing this term being a persuasive text, or opinion based, students benefit greatly from seeing things from many different perspectives. Ask your learner about Ned Kelly, and what they think of him. Don’t be scared to disagree with them, to spark discussion! Students will be considering all different points of view before writing their final piece.

Nathan Worth, Melanie Worth, and Anita Knight.

L.O.T.E News

By speaking, writing, listening to new words, phrases, sentences and questions in Italian, years 5 and 6 Italian classes at Goondi State School are furthering their knowledge of the Italian language.  Well done students!

Year 5 students are revising previous questions about themselves and learning how to answer the question Dove abiti? (Where do you live?).  Year 6 students are learning about Le parti del giorno (The parts of the day) in Italian.  They are using images to help them understand how to describe the parts of the day, expanding their knowledge of nouns and verbs.  All students are also learning songs to enhance their pronunciation.

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

Sports News

All classes are all well underway with our preparation for Inter House Sports Day on Friday 14 June.

Congratulations to Kyuss Barba and Noah Higgins who are off to the State Titles, having both been selected in two Peninsula Teams: Netball and Rugby League.

Congratulations also to all members of our Goondi Cross Country Team who competed in the Cassowary Coast District Trials last week.

Charlise Bailey, Dustin Barba, Harper Pierantozzi, Ethan Goodwin, Ava Kleve, Noah Higgins, Lawson Payne and Lokie Vue were all selected in the Cassowary Coast District team to compete in the Peninsula trials on 16 May.

GOOD LUCK to all students.

Tiffanie Bulstrode

Health and Physical Education Teacher

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