Barkly Highway State School - Term 4 Week 4
Principal's Welcome
Term 4 is traditionally a very busy term and this term has not been any different. Classrooms and other learning spaces continue to be a hive of activity for students. Teachers continue providing learning opportunities that take into consideration the needs of every student.
Last week, at the Regional Roadshow I heard messages directly from the Director-General, Michael De’Ath and Associate Director-General Sharon Schimming, along with various Central Office teams on the Equity and Excellence strategy to realise the potential of each of our students. On day 2 of the Roadshow, Kamrynn Roberts (DP) joined me for the opportunity to connect and collaborate with colleagues from across the Region including past principal, Christien Payne, who is always interested in BHSS news and asked to say hello to our school community.
What better way to celebrate State Education Week than to recognise the amazing work of one of our dedicated teachers? I would like to congratulate our Prep Blue classroom teacher, Bec Samios, for being recognised as an inspirational Queensland teacher with a TEACHX Dr Alan Druey OAM Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching. Bec is currently at the TEACHX 2023 Awards Presentation Ceremony being held in Brisbane. The cerenony is on Thursday 26 October, the eve of World Teachers› Day.
At this point, after looking at current student numbers, we will commence the year with 12 classrooms. Teachers have spent a staff meeting, composing 2024 class groups, taking into consideration the needs of individual students.
If you have been associated with a Queensland State School before, the terminology, “day 8”, is not new. This is the timeframe when the staffing of a school is finalised. Changes in school organisation, (including classrooms, teachers) may occur at this date. Class and teacher allocation prepared this year is a very complex process which is only temporary to start of the school year as often, adjustments to accommodate the changes that occur over the summer break may need to occur.
Enjoy the next two weeks.
Kind regards,
Fiona Kropp
Deputy's Report
Well done Barkly Highway families, our colour run raised a total of $17 624. Student Council have ordered outdoor furniture to be placed around the school grounds. Thank you for your continued support in our events!
Congratulations to Marli Thomas in 2G who is enjoying her brand new trampoline. Marli received the top fundraiser award on Parade for her effort in collecting $1550. Prep Blue also received an award for being the highest class in fundraising, they raised a combined total of $2996.
Wonderful to see all classrooms working hard in their Term 4 units. North Queensland’s Regional Director – Joseba Larrazabal conducted a school visit in week 2 and was very impressed with how our students could articulate their learning. When completing classroom walkthroughs, students are asked 5 questions for students to ensure they understand the task at hand and how to improve their work:
What are you learning?
How are you doing?
How do you know?
How can you improve?
Where can you go for help?
Staff also reflect on their teaching practice through professional conversations and are asked 5 questions for teachers to ensure they know their students, their next steps in teaching.
2024 School Leaders process is underway!
Last Friday Mr Benson and I met with students in year 5 who are interested in applying to be Barkly Highway's School Leaders next year.Written applications and signed nomination forms are due into the office tomorrow. Interviews will be held on Wednesday 8 November.The final step in our process involves the applicants to deliver their speeches to fellow Year 4 and 5 students on Wednesday 15 November. Our new leaders will be announced at the Prep to Year 5 Academic Awards Parade on Monday 27 November.
K-2 Deputy News
During classroom visits this week it was great to see all students engaged.
This Friday is Teacher Appreciation Day it’s a great opportunity for us to thank our teachers and let them know how lucky we are to have such a dedicated team of experts.
Next week on Tuesday 31 October and Thursday 2 November our school will host Parent information and Practicing for Prep sessions. This will allow our future students to have fun with their Prep teachers and class friends.
Mount Isa K-2 Deputy Principals have also delivered information sessions at interested Kindergartens and worked alongside our Early Years Network to finalise the WE ARE READY FOR SCHOOL IN MOUNT ISA placemat, update our towns transition plan and organise the Rock ‘en’ Roll event.
Engagement & Wellbeing
Hello families!
I am so impressed with the resilience of our student body. As a whole, we all understand how tired everyone is becoming. The students are tired, staff are tired, families are tired! Our students are determined to finish strong. This is a great conversation to have at home. What does ‘finishing strong’ mean? We have discussed this as a school in Think Tank. We believe that finishing strong means that right up until the end, we are always trying our best.
Our social skill this week is about being respectful in the classroom by allowing others to learn. We know that some tasks are completed quicker than others and there can be challenges at school but we must always allow others the time, space and quiet to learn.
Our Think Tank sessions have been full of suggestions. This is especially true around the use of the oval. Soccer is such a popular sport at lunch times, however, feedback from the students has been around having an area on the oval for running games. In response, we have minimally shortened the soccer fields to open up a space at the back for students to play their running games. So far, the reorganisation of the oval has been a success.
My door is always open, please feel free to drop in for a chat!
Kind regards,
Donna Freestone
TEACHX
We would love it if you would join the TEACHX online to recognise Bec.
Here is the link that will go live shortly before 6pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, when the ceremony commences: https://www.qct.edu.au/teachx
If you do have a celebration, we encourage you to tag Queensland College of Teachers into your posts via @TheQCT and #TEACHX.
Kind Regards, The TEACHX Team
STATE CHAMIONSHIPS - TRACK & FIELD
Jake McElligott from year 5/6 Red, flew to Brisbane in week 2 to represent the North West Region at the State Championships 10-12 yrs Track & Field. Jake participated in 100m, 200m races and also relay events.
Jake said he had lots of fun and it was a great experience which he hopes to be able to do at an other time, so he can represent the region again.
Harley-Rose Howard from year 5/6 Gold, also represented North West Queensland and we hope to share her experience with you next newsletter.
P-2 Swimming Block
The P-2 school swimming has been very successful. The behaviour of all students has been excellent. The contribution of our teaching staff and the swimming teachers we have employed have been instrumental in this. Mr Benson thanks all staff for their efforts in helping make our P-2 swim block work great and he believes that the team effort with everyone playing their part has been instrumental.
English in 1 Gold
1 Gold has been learning to create an imaginative digital multimodal procedure in English this term. To introduce the unit, we read the book Marmaduke Duck and the Marmalade Jam. At the end of this story, a pesky llama eats all of the ducks jam! To teach the llama a lesson, 1 Gold decided to create a procedure for a revolting jam. We then brought the procedure to life using different crafts and displayed them in our classroom.
4 Gold - Science
4 Gold have been having a whole lot of fun in science using 60 second slam games to investigate different types of forces and the effect of contact and non-contact forces on objects. They have been making predictions about games and then completing games to collect data. Students have identified what forces are being used, how they effect the outcome of the games, and how science knowledge of forces helps them to understand the effects of their actions and how to win the games.
P&C News
Term 4, how exciting!
The P&C is really excited about the end of the year because there is so much happening and even more to look forward to. A lot of you will have noticed the revamping of our cricket nets, which are due to be finished within the next 2 weeks. It'll be a great addition to not only our school but also our community with junior cricket and senior cricket likely to use.
We are really excited to announce that we have been successful in getting a Mount Isa City Council Environmental grant of $10,000 which will go towards the purchase of our very own recycling machine. This will be an item that is used by classroom teachers and students supervised at play time and possible fundraising options. If you want to know more, head to the link below! It's very exciting and the image of the items we can recycle is included in this newsletter. Start saving your washed lids now for recycling. We've been advised the best is through either the dishwasher or put in a laundry bag and thrown into the washing machine. Ensure the paper insert bits inside the lids are removed. A collection point at the school will be decided in the future.
Another exciting announcement today is that we've also secured a $20,000 GenQ Health & Wellbeing grant that is going to allow us to create our very own Outdoor QR Code Adventure Course. This is a future development that is due to be implemented next year, but will include the purchase of more iPad's for the school, QR Code posts and educational resources to allow students to use this as an educational option & get students moving and learning at the same time. More info to come and a more official announcement soon!
Lastly, we have just over 2 weeks until our Slip n Splash event 10 November. Flexi-schools food options and notes will be going out soon so keep your eyes and ears peeled for more information. Exciting times ahead!
If you would like to be a part of any of this, or there are any other ideas you might have, please contact us at pandc@barklyhighwayss.eq.edu.au or come along to our meetings. The next meeting is Tuesday, 14 November at 6:00 in the Resource Centre. We will be discussing the end of year concert and ways we can ensure we finish off 2023 with a bang!
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
