Barkly Highway State School - Term 3 Week 8
Principal's Welcome
I am pleased to advise, our school community has been included in the Department of Education’s Educational Precinct trial as part of the Equity and Excellence strategy.
Mount Isa, along with Bundaberg, are the first two Queensland locations to be part of the trial.
Dedicated educational precincts will offer a collaborative approach to schooling where schools in a geographical location like Mount Isa benefit from collective planning and working more closely together to meet the unique needs of our community.
It is an exciting opportunity for us. Nine local state schools will be part of the Mount Isa Educational Precinct and we will be supported by the department and region to participate in the trial.
Our precinct will have multiple focus areas. Together with our precinct school partners we will look at how we can strengthen engagement with young people in education, support transitions within and between educational settings, and collaborate to utilise existing resources and programs.
We also want to look at how we can enhance working together with other government agencies to support students and families in Mount Isa.
I will share with you more information regarding how you can get involved in co-designing our response plan as we are keen to hear from our school community as part of our planning and co-design processes.
More information about the department’s Equity and Excellence strategy can be found at https://education.qld.gov.au/initiatives-and-strategies/strategies-and-programs/equity-and-excellence/integrated-responses-and-educational-precincts.
Kind regards,
Fiona Kropp
Deputy's Report
Before and After School Expectations
As outlined in our Parent Guidelines, students at Barkly Highway State School are instructed after release from classrooms, to make their way home, leaving the school grounds immediately if they are going home independently OR moving to the gate where they are being collected, sitting quietly as no play is to occur in the school grounds at this time. (School play areas, Prep and the front fort have signs stating that they are out of bounds before and after school and parents are asked to support the school expectations in monitoring your children and how they move out of the school grounds). Thank you to our families who are prompt with collecting their children at 2:30.
Colour Fun Run
Thank you to all our families that have created an online profile!
Currently we have raised $10 764 of our $30 000, so there is a way to go and I hope you’ll keep supporting us! Remember, the money raised will be going towards outdoor seating for our students.
For those of you who are yet to get a donation, just remember that you can WIN a $20,000 Ultimate Family Package by raising $1 online.
Thank you again for your effort and I hope you will continue to help us fundraise throughout the event.
Kind regards,
Kamrynn Roberts
Engagement & Wellbeing
Hello families! We have had such an eventful fortnight. The Spinifex Senior band played for our students and what an amazing experience that was. We also had our book week dress up parade and it was wonderful to see the costumes the students wore. We can appreciate how long some of them would have taken to make!
Our social skill this week is about communicating in a kind and positive manner and using school appropriate language. There has been an increase in the use of inappropriate language towards students and staff. Being kind and tolerant toward others is an effective starting point for talking about the words we use at home and the words we use at school.
In the upcoming couple of weeks, there are some exciting activities to get ready for.
· Friday 1 September is our Cross Country. We look forward to having our families and community cheer us on.
· Tuesday 5 September is our whole school celebration for filling up our PBL token containers. Students have voted for a popcorn and movie afternoon.
· Friday 8 September is our Colour Run. This is always a good time.
I look forward to continue working with families to create a safe and supportive environment for our students. Please don’t hesitate to pop your head into the office if you have any concerns or feedback.
Kind regards,
Donna Freestone
PCYC
We have been informed that due to the replacement of floor coverings in E Block, PCYC After School Care will be transporting students to the main PCYC on Friday 15 September. Please contact PCYC for more details, if required.
Opti-MINDS
On Saturday 26 August, three teams of students from years 4 to 6 represented Barkly Highway State School at the regional Opti-MINDS critical and creative thinking challenge. Over the day students competed in and presented a long-term challenge which they had spent the previous 6 weeks developing as well as a spontaneous on the day challenge. Our three teams in the categories of social sciences, language & literature, and science & engineering performed admirably and represented the school with pride against school teams from around Mount Isa and Cloncurry. The students endured some challenging conditions and tough time-frames to deliver their presentations to a panel of judges. The long day ended on a positive note with BHSS teams being awarded honours in the Language & Literature category and taking out the top position in the Social Sciences category. Barkly Highway was also presented with a certificate celebrating the schools 27 years of participation in the event. Well done to all the students who competed and the school is looking forward to many more years competing at this wonderful event.
P&C Association
Upcoming P&C Meeting - We welcome anyone interested in the future endeavors and exciting opportunities that the P&C are moving towards, so please come to our next meeting on Tuesday 12 September. It will be our last one for Term 3 and one to look at organising our activities for Term 4. An activity which we will be considering is the Slip, Splash n Slide afternoon successfully held last year. We also have a few grants in action and hoping to continue to provide amazing developments at the school for our students to enjoy!
Thank you to everyone who came to our last disco fundraiser and we hope the year 6 students attending camp have a great time. Good luck to all those competing in the school cross country on Friday. Hope to see everyone at the next meeting!
Variety Active Kids Sports Day
Earlier this month, 18 students from Barkly Highway State School attended the Variety Active Kids Sports Day Program. This event involved over 80 students participating from four schools around Mount Isa. Students were given opportunities to participate in a variety of modified Netball, Basketball and Rugby League activities. It was a fun day for all who attended.
The Arts
The Arts for 2023 have been a little different this year at Barkly Highway State School. All classes have the opportunity to explore different art strands throughout the year. During the first term, the students enjoyed creating their own music using different instruments and performances. Second term the students were able to explore their skills in drama – performing skits and shadow puppet plays, while our 5/6 cohort created a documentary for Media Arts.
This term we are learning the skills and techniques required for visual arts, including pencil sketches, painting, pastels collage and sculpting.
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
Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barklyhighwaystateschool
