Barkly Highway State School - Term 3 Week 4

Principal's Welcome

FAREWELL, CHERYL GALLAGHER!

Next week we say a huge thank you to Mrs Gallagher for her 23 years of service, educating students at Barkly Highway State School. Since 2000, Cheryl has had impact through her many roles including classroom teacher, Learning Support Teacher, Lead Literacy Teacher and more recently as Deputy Principal. Cheryl’s experience and expertise will be sorely missed and I know you will join our school staff and wish her and her husband good luck, with their move to south east Queensland.

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM VERSION 9 (V9AC)

Recently, Minister Grace Grace, confirmed the implementation of the Australian Curriculum Version 9, will begin in 2025, and not 2024 as originally planned. Schools are not being stopped to implement English and Mathematics V9AC, however, along with our partner schools in Project 1000, the decision for the Mount Isa primary schools to take more time to become familiar, to plan and prepare curriculum without the pressure of implementation. This will also allow time for many of the supporting documents, unit plans and guidelines which will still be rolling out over Terms 3 and 4 of this year. V9AC will be revisited on our Student Free Day, Friday 11 August.

Kinds regards,

Fiona Kropp

Deputy's Report

PARENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

We acknowledge the support of our wonderful families on occasions such as, our recent Prep Open Morning, our monthly Parents and Citizens Meetings and look forward to our community’s support for our future events - our Colour Fun Run happening on September 8, and participating in our Parent, Student, Teacher Meetings being held in week 9, the second last week of term from September 4-8. Research tells us that students achieve more when schools, parents and the local community work together. Evidence of this over a period of decades, identifies the benefits of continued parent engagement throughout schooling for student learning outcomes. Parent engagement has been shown to improve students’ self-esteem, school attendance, and behaviour at school. In fact, respected educational researcher John Hattie has found that effective parent engagement accelerates a child’s learning at school. Thank you to everyone in our school community who have been a part of these activities!

Fond Farewell

After 23 years of working at Barkly Highway State School with our dedicated staff, wonderful students and supportive school community, I have decided to resign and move closer to my family. My passion as an educator here has always been sustained by the people, I’ve had the privilege to working alongside to make a positive impact on our students’ learning.

I look forward to the next chapter in my life with my family.

Kind regards,

Cheryl Gallagher

Engagement & Wellbeing

Hello families! Can you believe it is nearly half term already? You can feel the energy in the air, especially with the Year 6 cohort who are about to finish their primary schooling years. There are a few things to keep an eye out for regarding our Year 6 students. These include: Farewell (Tuesday, 28 November), Spinifex transition days, the culmination of Gifted and Talented and important ABSTUDY information for our First Nation’s students.

We also have some exciting events happening for our whole school which include:

· Rodeo dress up parade on Wednesday, 9 August. 9:50 – 10:20 in the parade area.

· Student Council fundraiser for Joy with a pizza and pyjama day – Tuesday, 15 August

· Spinifex State College band visit – Thursday, 24 August

· Book Week dress up parade. Come dressed as your favourite book character – Friday, 25 August at 8:25 in the UCA

· Premier’s Reading Challenge finishes on Friday, 25 August

Our social skill this week is about being responsible by taking accountability for our actions and allowing others to take accountability for their own. This is a great starting point to talk to students about getting adults to help solve big problems as opposed to students stepping in and trying to solve them for other people.

Kind regards,

Donna Freestone

Fractions in 4 Blue

This term in 4 Blue, students have been learning all about fractions. In particular, how to change improper fractions to mixed fractions, add mixed fractions together and how to place them on a number line. To help us with our understanding of mixed fractions, we used manipulatives like lego and fairy bread to identify the equal parts that make this fraction type. Go 4 Blue for being fabulous fraction fanatics!

Soccer State Championships

Seven students from Barkly Highway SS travelled to Trinity Beach to compete in the Soccer State Championships from August 3-6. We wish them all the best and can't wait to hear all about it on their return.

2 Blue Class News

2 Blue are confidently using the reboot language of speedbumps and roadblocks within our classroom. We talk about speedbumps as small problems that we can overcome with little effort and roadblocks as bigger problems that are out of our control and require us to work harder at finding an alternative route or solution. We are also exploring the zones of learning to demonstrate how confident we are in what we are learning. We acknowledge that learning can be tricky but are working on strategies to cross the line of opportunity and remain in our learning and mastery zones.

QLD Child Oral Health Study

From QCOHS team

The University of Queensland and Queensland Health have partnered with your school to conduct the Queensland Child Oral Health Study (QCOHS) 2021-24. If you received an invitation, we encourage you to participate in this important research project. The study will provide important information about Queensland children’s oral health and dental care that will underpin future strategies to improve child dental health.

A specially trained dental team will be onsite at school to conduct the dental check-ups. You are welcome to attend with your child but this is not required. Participants will receive a toothbrush pack and parents will be notified by email of the outcome of the dental check-up.

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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