Barkly Highway State School - Term 3 Week 4
Principal's Welcome
The wonderful achievements of our students are celebrated regularly, however, this week the choices our teachers have made so that each child is placed at the heart of the teaching and learning cycle were spotlighted. Classroom teachers, Leah Wilcox, Nicole Brebner, Cathy McKenna and Bec Samios’ use of Age-appropriate Pedagogies was shared with visiting teaching staff from State Delivered Kindergarten (SDK) schools. As most of the participating schools have students in composite classes, the benefit in showcasing Age-appropriate Pedagogy is the link to the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines (QKLG) used by kindergartens.
Visiting staff supporting the teachers, included Julia Fitzgerald (Senior Advisor – SDK), Julie Louis (Head of Department - SDK ) from Townsville and Danya Benson (Head of Learning: Early Years – Mount Isa CLaW) who also attended and assisted in classrooms to ensure the success of the sharing process.
The areas discussed and presented included -
· Age-appropriate Pedagogy journey (successes, barriers, changes along the way etc.)
· How to consider a child’s interests, strengths & capabilities in the planning journey
· Planning a unit of work using Age-appropriate Pedagogy
· How to set up learning spaces and why
· How to create inclusive environments - planning for children with disabilities
Past students visit
Past Barkly Highway State School students who attended from 1961 – 1968, are attending the Mount Isa High State School 1970 Reunion this weekend. A tour of our school is scheduled on Friday, 11:30-12:30. I am sure the changes made to the classrooms and grounds will be highlighted, along with memorable events of their school days being recalled over this weekend!
Gallipoli Park Pump Track and Redevelopment Project
On Monday, notification of the Redevelopment Project commencing that particular day, rang alarm bells, regarding the safety of our students and staff who transition through the park, to and from school each school day. The parking area on the south end of the perimeter of the park also draws families in the morning and afternoon and is very busy with students travelling to and from school. After contacting Mount Isa City Council to express the school’s concerns, Nick from Transcape Constructions which is the Project Contractor responsible for the project, discussed and walked the proposed fence line / barrier with me. Nick has forwarded the below map for your perusal.
As you can see there is a piece of the bike path that will be inside the barrier so people will require to negotiate the change in the pathway behind and past the container before crossing back onto the pathway. Students will benefit from walking around the area with a supportive adult to discuss the safety needs when in the area before having to do so independently.
School Contribution 2021
The school acknowledges and thank the families of the 98 student contributions, which have been paid so far this year. The $30 student contribution which was targeted to providing additional support for student resources in the classrooms. In total, the school has received $2 965 out of a possible $8000. Voluntary Contribution envelopes recently forwarded to families as a reminder of the payment can now be forwarded to the school.
Deputy's Report
The School Opinion Survey has been extended to Friday, 6 August 2021.
Thank you to all the parents/caregivers, students and school staff who have already completed this year’s School Opinion Survey. Our Annual Implementation Plan goal this year, is to have 75 or more parents/caregivers complete our School Opinion Survey. The image below tells us we have 84 response received so far. Let’s celebrate achieving this goal and we look forward to sharing our survey results with you when we receive our school report later this year. As the time to complete the survey has been extended, please take the opportunity to give our school your valued feedback.
All families, school staff and students in target year levels (5 and 6) have been invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what our school does well, and how we can improve.
An invitation to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey has been emailed to one parent/caregiver per family. The invitation was sent from the Department of Education, not the school, and it will have the subject line School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2021. Please check your junk email folders if you can’t find it. The survey will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone.
Parents/caregivers who experience difficulties accessing the survey can request a new survey from the School Opinion Survey team via email schoolopinionsurvey@qed.qld.gov.au
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS AND ASSESSMENTS FOR SCHOOLS (ICAS)
The ICAS Assessment dates are listed below. There has been a change to the Writing Sitting Dates. It is now scheduled for the first week of term 4. Also, please see the proposed schedule for our students in Years 3 - 6 (Writing Year 4 – 6 online) whose parents have paid for them to participate in these assessments.
Prep - Design & Technology
In Prep, the students have a Design & Technology unit called ‘Grow, Grow, Grow’. They have been growing an edible garden. The Preppies started by planting seeds and growing them to seedlings. Next, they transferred the seedlings into the garden beds, made signs to go with their seedlings and were responsible for caring for the plants. The students have been weeding, watering, protecting the plants from the sun and bugs. Last week they harvested lettuce and enjoyed eating egg and lettuce sandwiches. The silverbeet and peas are almost ready so they are now brainstorming the next meals they wish to cook and eat with their fresh produce.
Library News
In a short time, we will be holding our second Book Fair for this year from August 16-20. We are very excited and are looking forward to welcoming you into our ‘Reading Oasis’.
Book Week will be in Week 7 and we will celebrate with our now well-established Dress-up Day. Please mark your calendar for Friday, August 27 for our Dress-up Parade at 8.25. We are looking forward to seeing many fantastic and amazing Book Characters from old favourites to the not so familiar. Let your imagination reign free!
Some Book Club #5 orders went home this week, but we are waiting on a couple more to arrive.
Book Club Issue#6 brochures will be out soon and will probably overlap with Book Fair.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge is still going until August 27!
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any queries you may have.
Kind Regards,
Svenja Spitzner-Lewis
Year 4 Zoo
On Monday August 2, Year 4 students and the wider school body were able to present a donation to Sue from Paws, Hoofs & Claws during our school parade. The money was raised during the Year 4 Zoo that was run at the end of last term, with donations kindly given by student visitors to the zoo. Year 4 had been learning about endangered Australian species as part of their science unit and wanted to share their learning. The students spent time learning about our vulnerable and endangered species, the challenges they face and what we can do about it. Students decided to collect donations during the Zoo to donate to a chosen charity to be able to assist with the care and rehabilitation of many of our threatened species. Paws, Hoofs and Claws was chosen for the work they do with animals in the local Mount Isa Community. The students and staff of Barkly Highway State School hope the funds will ensure our animal species are around for us all to see and share the land with well into the distant future.
Year 1 Fire Safety
Over the last couple of weeks, Year 1 had the Firefighters make a visit for Fire Education. They learnt when to STOP, DROP and ROLL, and when to GET DOWN LOW AND GO, GO, GO. The fire truck returned for the students to look at and enjoy squirting the hose - even Miss Hill and Miss Brebner got to have a turn on the hose.
