Barkly Highway State School - Term 1 Week 4
Principal's Welcome
CLASSROOM LEARNING WALLS
This term as part of our whole school focus around Creating Assessment Literate Learners is supporting our students to understand what they have to “know and do” to be successful in the learning task. Each classroom has an English and Mathematics learning wall.
Teachers model from the Learning Wall every day to unpack the intent of the lesson and highlight the criteria for what is required to achieve the next level in student learning. As students move through the “Unit of Work”, they will engage with this important tool in the classroom and are very comfortable talking to the various components. Something we are very proud of at Barkly Highway State School is the seamless transition for our students’ interaction with the learning wall from one year level to the next. Please feel free to talk with your classroom teacher about the Learning Wall this term and ask your child for a tour. They are very clever at talking to this.
CLASSROOM MEET THE TEACHER
Classroom and specialist teachers were available to meet their parents / carers last week to present and discuss classroom expectations and processes. During this time classroom learning walls were available to discuss. While the attendance on Tuesday was disappointing for our teachers, feedback from families who attended was extremely positive. For parents who did not attend, we are interested in hearing some feedback to enable us to ensure we are providing appropriate opportunities for parents and teachers to meet in an informal gathering and in context of the students. Feedback can be sent to admin@barklyhighwayss.eq.edu.au
SCHOOL REVIEW
The school has been notified that our 4-year school review is now scheduled for Tuesday – Thursday 22-24 May. In future newsletters School Review information will be included.
Deputy's Report
PLAY BEFORE FOOD Lunchtime Routine Years 1 to 6
Our students have transitioned to our lunch routine smoothly. They are enjoying playing first and are returning to classrooms after eating, settled and ready to begin learning. At second break, students can eat at any time or choose to play the whole break, if they wish. A bell goes half way through Second Break as a reminder for students to take time to eat as requested by our students through our Weekly Think Tank Meetings. We encourage everyone to use an insulated lunchbox. Lunchboxes are stored in classrooms in the class fridge during learning time.
8:25 Learning time
10:25 Playtime
10:55 Eating time
11:10 Learning time
1:10 Play & Eating time
1:35 Transition to class lining up area
1:40 Learning time
2:30 Home time
Our Prep teachers plan on transitioning to PLAY BEFORE FOOD towards the end of this term in preparation for moving to the ‘big school’ for playtime & eating at the start of Term 2.
EVERY DAY COUNTS
Students are expected to be at school every day of the school term to ensure they have every opportunity to participate in the learning activities that occur each day. Parents and caregivers are requested to inform the school when a student is away on any day. Leave a message on our absence line by calling 4437 3633 or reply to the SMS. Our school continues to aim high and has an attendance goal of 90%. Last year our overall attendance was 89.4%.
FRIENDLY REMINDER - SCHOOL MORNING ROUTINE
After 8:15 - Students arrive at school. (Students who arrive at school before 8:05am are required to sit in the undercover area until the 8:05am bell.)
8:05 - 8:20 – Sitting/talking with friends or playing handball. (Students do not go onto verandas or to ground floor rooms until they are collected by a teacher at the 8:20am bell).
8:20 bell - Students move to class line-up areas after visiting toilets and drink taps. Teachers transition students to learning.
8:25 - Teaching commences. Students who arrive after the 8:25am bell, or after the roll has been marked in classrooms, must collect a late arrival slip from the school office to join the class.
Student Leadership Parade
On Friday, our annual Student Leadership Parade is being held in the undercover area and commences at 8:30am. It is a formal parade at which badges are presented to the students who have been chosen by their peers and staff to represent our school, classes for Semester 1 or sporting house.
School Captains are also presented with a special school badge by the P&C Association. Student leaders are welcomed into the role with a a celebratory cup-cake after the parade.
Students receiving School Captain badges or Student Council Representatives are asked to wear their school uniform, while house leaders are asked to wear their house coloured shirt.
NAPLAN date change information for parents and carers
From 2023, NAPLAN will be moving from May to March. This year’s test will take place from 15 to 27 March. The change of date means that school systems will have access to results earlier, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year. NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. Parents should be reminded that NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.
NAPLAN Practice Test Timetable for our Year 3 & 5 Students
Term 1 Week 5 Monday to Wednesday 20-22 February
Engagement & Wellbeing Support
Hello! I would like to introduce myself as the Engagement and Wellbeing Teacher. My role includes supporting students to engage in the classroom, develop a strong sense of wellbeing and working with families and the community to provide a safe, supportive and inclusive school environment. This week, our school values (be responsible, be respectful, be resilient and be a learner) magnet went home to all of our Prep and new student families. This magnet is a great conversation starter about behaviour expectations at school which will set all of our students up for success. This magnet reflects the language we use at Barkly Highway when talking about social skills, behaviour and relationships. If you have any questions or concerns, I am happy to speak and work with you to ensure the best outcomes for the students.
Ms Donna Freestone
Poe-tree in 2 Blue
In 2 Blue we have been working hard in English to bring our Poe-tree garden back to life. We are learning to create and present an innovation of a known poem to our class. Our magic tree has been leaving us notes detailing poetry elements we need to learn, in order to bring our plants back to life. Our garden is now thriving as we have learnt about elements of poetry such as rhyme, alliteration, repetition and syllables. We are becoming poem innovating experts and getting closer to getting our green thumb badges when our Poe-tree garden is complete.
4 Blue Class News
In 4 Blue, we have been working really hard on multiplication and division strategies!
We are all feeling really confident multiplying 3 digit numbers with 1 digits using the box method and using CUBES to understand a word problem. This week, we have been practising the bus stop method (short division) to find out the answer to large division sums. I am so proud of the dedication and excitement that 4 Blue has had towards Mathematics and I can’t wait to see all of the amazing work they are going to do over the year!
Understanding Anxiety
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural response to a perceived threat. There are three elements to anxiety.
- Cognitive (Mental) system. The thoughts people have in situations they experience as anxiety-provoking. Example I’m going to look stupid.
- The physical system. The changes that happen to a person’s body when they feel anxious. Example Sick in the stomach
- The behavioural system. What to do in an anxiety- provoking situation. Example Try to avoid or escape the situation.
HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD COPE WITH UNCERTAINTY?
Children often learn by example. Even though parents or caregivers are sometimes concerned or even upset, it’s not the end of the world. It can be handled. It can be talked about. It can be looked at as a challenge or minor setback. This teaches kids that occasional setbacks are a normal part of life and problems can be solved. And that helps them in the long term. You’re letting your child know that uncomfortable feelings can be managed.
- Children need to experience reasonable levels of risk, failure and disappointment, with adults supporting them just enough and not too much. Of course, you can’t just throw your child into the world and expect them to cope.
- The younger a child is, the more they’ll need your emotional support. But when a child is old enough, rather than simply reassuring, you can help children and teenagers work out how THEY can deal with difficult or challenging situations.
Chappy News
Hello Families & School Community,
Mark the date, on Friday, February 17, it’s Random Acts of Kindness Day (RAK Day).
Our school can be involved by showing kindness in the classroom and in the school grounds. Encourage your child/ren to come to school and take part by showing their kindness to as many as they would like on that day. This could be something as simple as saying, “Hi, how are you?” to someone they may not usually talk to or know. It would be good if they could write down what they did and share how it made them feel or the difference it made to the person who received the kind deed.
Even though we show kindness to support this event, we would like to continue this trend and make kindness the norm every day. It starts with me and you. Let’s be the difference and practise kindness because it’s something we all can do.
We invite you to join us. It’s easy, it’s fun and will improve your and someone else’s day.
Thank you,
Chappy Sue
P & C News
How fast is the term flying??
Thanks to everyone who came to our first P&C meeting held on Tuesday night. We are gearing up for our AGM coming up on the Tuesday, 14 March. We hope we can see a number of new faces, and have a full committee formed at the end! Anyone interested in what's happening at school, and has ideas on what cold happen at Barkly Highway SS is encouraged to attend the P&C meetings!
Also, we are still desperately trying to fill the Tuckshop Convenor job! We can't operate the tuckshop without one, so if you know anyone who could be interested, please get them to email their interest to pandc@barklyhighwayss.eq.edu.au. No experience necessary, we will help the right individual through the learning process, just need someone willing to take on the role!
We want to give a big shout out to Nicole Liu who has been filling the role of Uniform shop for over 5 years! She has done an amazing job, and we know it's such a big job, especially being a volunteer!! Nicole has gone back to teaching more and so doesn't have the time to continue, so we wish her all the best!! Congratulations though to her prodigy, Amanda Smart! Amanda has taken over this role, and she is still getting her head around it! Please be patient, and if you have any uniform queries, please email to pandc@barklyhighwayss.eq.edu.au as our uniform shop email is not working at the moment. Thank you Nicole and congratulations Amanda!!
The P&C would also like to acknowledge MSS Security for their generous donation of $1,250 towards upgrading and maintaining the Lehmann's Legacy Garden down at Prep! The area is thriving, being well used and this money will continue to make it a very enjoyable space for our preps to use! Thank you!
I think that's it for now! If you have any suggestions, Tuckshop Convenor applications, uniform shop enquiries or AGM executive position nominations, please email pandc@barklyhighwayss.eq.edu.au and we will aim to get back to you as quick as we can!! Enjoy the next few weeks and hope to see you at the AGM on Tuesday, March 14 at 6:00pm.
Events & Flyers
Want to know what's happening within the school? Check out our School Calendar to keep up to date.
https://barklyhighwayss.schoolzineplus.com/calendar/1
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