Barkly Highway State School - Term 4 Week 8
Principal's Welcome
Welcome to our Week 8 Newsletter!
The year, 2020, will be remembered for many different reasons! Our everyday routines of life were interrupted at the end of term 1, however, by the beginning of term 3, classroom teaching and learning had returned. We now are regulary making adjustments to our activities to ensure compliance with COVID 19 Guidelines. At times, it is difficult to understand why some decisions are made, these are made taking into consideration the least impact and the best outcome for the whole school community. We thank our school community for accepting and supporting these school-wide decisions to provide a safe environment for every one, children and staff.
As we enter the very busy, festive time of the term and year, the excitement for the holidays is building. Our traditional end of year activities are scheduled and our students continue to enjoy participating in these activities at school. We are unable to invite everyone into our school for all of these occasions.
STAFFING 2021
Congratulations to our now permanent Deputy Principal, Cheryl Gallagher. Cheryl was informed recently that she had won the Barkly Highway State School Deputy Principal position which formally commenced this week.
At the end of this school term, we will say farewell to several of our teaching staff – Head of Special Education Services, Olivia Burford to Mackay, Classroom teachers Alan Miles to Petrie State School, Adam Siegmann to Maryborough State High School and our Business Manager, Katrina Wedrat, will be on leave for term 1.
Congratulations to Kylie Toms who has accepted the Head of Special Education Services’ role for term 1.
FAREWELL
As this is our last newsletter for 2020, we say goodbye to all of our current year 6 students and other students leaving our school. Many of these students have attended Barkly Highway State School for all of their 7 primary school years and some are the last child of their family to attend primary school. Thank you for all the memories and good luck for your future.
Have a safe and happy holiday,
Fiona Kropp
Deputy's Report
We have much to celebrate as we end our 2020 school year, on Wednesday 2 December.
At this time of the year, we farewell our year 6 students as they transition to high school. I wish all students and families leaving our school community success with future learning experiences. This Friday morning, we celebrate their academic achievement, attendance and listen to our Year 6 Student Leaders’ reflections on 2020 at our Year 6 Farewell.
On Monday morning, we are holding our Prep to Year 5 Awards Parade. We will be celebrating our students’ achievements, recognising attendance and announcing our 2020 school captains. Our School Choir will be performing on the parade with our Arts teacher Miss Jones.
In adhering to the COVID Safe School Events guidelines, parents or guardians of our award recipients in Prep to Year 5 and family members of our year 6 students attending these events will receive an Entry Ticket. At these events, all attendees will need to observe the social distancing expectations of 1.5 metres. Thank you for complying with the COVID Safe School Events restrictions that we are currently required to work within for these end of year events.
Next week, we will also be celebrating our students’ positive behaviours for learning and acknowledging students who have had 90% or higher attendance for this term. Research links growth in student learning outcomes with positive behaviours for learning and school attendance.
Along with our end of year celebrations, we wish our families, students and teachers, who are leaving the school, all the best for the future.
Thank you all for the wonderful memories created in 2020. A year that won’t be forgotten due to the impact of the coronavirus. Please enjoy a safe and happy holiday. I look forward to celebrating our students’ growth in their learning with you all in 2021.
Kind Regards,
Cheryl Gallagher
Advancing Clean Energy Schools (ACES) Program
The installing of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) by the Department commenced on Monday 23 November. The work that is located on D Wing and the Undercover Area rooves (tracking back to A Wing power box) is not expected to require any classroom movement. The work includes:
- Installation of a new 99.28kW solar PV system
- Decommissioning of existing solar PV system (Administration Block)
- Solar Team online monitoring, providing training opportunity to be involved in the platform’s educational package.
This week we have seen:
- edge protection and 1.8m fencing surround site compound
- edge protection and scaffolding system around the building to keep everyone safe and items secured.
The ACES program is funded by the Department, at no cost to the school, in the aim of making schools more energy efficient and reducing the States consumption of electricity. Safe delivery is a key objective of the ACES Program with all works completed in accordance with relevant Australian and Queensland legislation, as well as Queensland workplace policies and procedures. As schools are busy environments, a commitment during this time is to minimise disruption during the installation, so the contractor will work with the school to minimise impacts to school operations, wherever possible. This includes our special events during this time. The goal of the project is to reduce our school’s energy costs in the future.
Teachers have focused on the important safety information with all students. This includes staying away from the caged area, to always remain outside of the safety barriers and all balls that go into out of bounds areas are collected from the office the day after being lost.
Library News
How quick has this year gone!
Book Club has not arrived yet, but we are in contact with Scholastic. We hope to have all orders arrive, and handed out before next Wednesday.
With the end of year, we ask that all student borrowing be returned. At this stage, we have around 120 books still overdue across every class. Some books were borrowed back in Term 2, which coincided with the time our school was closed due to Covid-19. We would appreciate if you check with your student for any overdue or lost books. Overdue notes have gone home Friday last week and again on Tuesday. If a book is lost, please contact the school to arrange payment to help with the financial recovery of the book. We added a little incentive to return books this year in the form of a Gingerbread House for the class who returns and/or has paid for any lost books first. We have one for Years P-2 and one for Years 3-6 to give away.
We wish our Year 6 cohort as well as families leaving us, all the best for their next adventure.
Have a relaxing and safe holidays and hope to see you all again next year.
Kind Regards,
Svenja Spitzner-Lewis
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop will be closed through school holidays, opening the week prior to school returning on the following dates:
Friday 22nd January: 9am-12pm
Saturday 23rd January: 9am-12pm
Monday 25th January: 9am-11am
Want to skip the queue? Flexischool orders can be placed any time leading up to these dates, with orders being ready for collection from the uniform shop during the above opening hours. New to BHSS or unsure on your child's class for 2021? Simply use the NEWSTARTER 2021 option on flexischools where class is asked for. Keep an eye on the school Facebook for updates to the uniform shop's opening hours.
Thankyou for your continued support throughout 2020.
Email: bhssuniforms@live.com
2021 Classroom Teacher
Hello Barkly Highway Families, My name is Chelsea Hill and I will be the newest member of the Barkly Highway community in 2021. I am excited to be relocating from Brisbane to Mount Isa with my partner Anthony to start my teaching career. I have completed my practical placements in a range of educational settings, locations and year levels. I believe in creating a safe and supportive classroom for all students by building meaningful relationships with students, parents and carer-givers, to ensure that each learner has access to an equitable education.
During my time at Barkly Highway in week 8, I have felt very welcomed by the community and look forward to engaging with current Barkly Highway staff and students to take on their expertise to develop both professionally and personally.
I cannot wait to see what 2021 has to offer in the Mount Isa region.
