Barkly Highway State School - Term 2 Week 4
Principal's Welcome
Welcome to our newsletter for week 4!
GUIDANCE OFFICERS
Guidance Officers play an invaluable role in supporting students and school communities. During the last 2 weeks their contribution in providing counselling, advice and leadership across the areas of educational, behavioural, vocational, personal, social, family, mental health and wellbeing has been highlighted during Guidance Officers Week (22 April to 3 May). I would like to take this time to acknowledge and thank our Guidance Officers Lana Lehmann and Cathy Muguira for the significant contribution they make to our students and their academic, social and emotional wellbeing in our school.
While only here 2 days a week, Lana (Monday / Tuesday) and Cathy (Tuesday / Wednesday) they work in other schools in Mount Isa, also.
“EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE” - Building capability and curriculum knowledge
Equity and Excellence is about reducing barriers for all learners to realise every student's potential. It is imperative that to achieve this we build the capability and curriculum knowledge in schools to ensure educational excellence is targeted. Recent professional development programs focus on enhancing leadership skills specific to the current needs of schools and leaders.
Curriculum knowledge is foundational for middle leaders to drive quality teaching and learning. Targeted training on curriculum implementation, assessment strategies, and differentiation techniques can empower middle leaders to support their teaching staff effectively. This includes understanding how to adapt curriculum frameworks to meet the unique needs and interests of students.
Professional learning opportunities aligned to our AIP that staff have attended include the following:
- Positive Performance Management Training
- Expert Reading Leaders: P-2
- Expert Reading Leaders: Year 3-6 Masterclass
- English Version 9 – Day 1 and 2
- Mount Isa Curriculum Leaders Days: Pre-Before Moderation – English
- P1000 – P-2 Collaboration
- Early Years Network
Professional learning is a cornerstone of school improvement efforts, as it empowers educators to continuously enhance their craft and positively impact student achievement.
Regards,
Fiona Kropp
K-2 Deputy's News
Attendance
We have really hit the ground running with Term 2. Our P-2 attendance is currently sitting slightly down from last term at just above 90%. Remember every day counts and valuable teaching and learning is occurring in every classroom every day. Give your child the best chance of success in the classroom and into their future by ensuring they attend school ever day! Don’t forget, if your child is away, let your classroom teacher know, use the absentee line or reply to the text message you receive on your mobile so that we can keep to our target of 0 unexplained absences.
Prep 2025
The transition from Kindy to Prep can seem a little a daunting but at Barkly Highway we would like to support our students and families to ensure the process is as smooth as possible.
To do this we aim to know 100% of our incoming Prep students by the end of Semester One in their year before school, that’s the end of this term!
If you have a child turning 5 from 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025 they are eligible to begin Prep in 2025. We are now taking expressions of interest for our 2025 Prep cohort of students.
Contact the school office on 4437 3633 or come in and see us and we can make a time to talk about how our school can support you and your child with the transition from Kindergarten to Prep 2024-2025.
Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)
A letter went home to all prep students last week with information regarding the AEDC. This census will be taking place in our school next week.
Participation in the AEDC is voluntary, however the AEDC relies on all schools with children in their first year of full-time school participating in the collection. Parents/carers don’t need to take any action unless they choose not to include their children in the census.
To find out more about the AEDC and how it is being used to help children and families visit: www.aedc.gov.au.
If you have any further questions, you can contact me on the school number 4437 3633 or by email: yxweh0@eq.edu.au
Kind regards,
Yvette Wehlow
HPE with Miss Wheeler
On Friday, 26 March we held our annual cross country. I would like to commend all the students who participated, you all did a fantastic job.
Congratulations to the following students;
2012 Age Champions
Kalian and Xzariah
2013 Age Champions
Riley and Harley-Rose
2014 Age Champions
Harvey and Jade
2015 Age Champions
Mitch and Willow
District Cross Country
Last Friday we had numerous students represent Barkly Highway at the District Cross Country Carnival held at the Mount Isa Golf Club. All the students did an outstanding job representing our school.
Congratulations to the following students who placed in their race and our valuable runners of our school team.
- Imogen
- Talariah
- Sasha
- Laney
Only a very small team, due to other sporting commitments however, we placed 3rd for all Mount Isa Schools competing.
1st Place
2012 Boys - Darby
2013 Girls - Harley-Rose
2nd Place
2012 Girls - Xzariah
2014 Boys - Harvey
3rd Place
2013 Boys - Vander
2 Blue Classroom News
Here in 2 Blue we have been having a lot of fun learning about designing and creating objects. Students have had the opportunity to design and create an aeroplane, fan and spinning toy. They have enjoyed testing them out to see which designs work better than others. Students have even been able to test their designs against other students designs in an outdoor environment. This term they have started designing a different type of spinning toy. They are very excited to see if their design will be even more fun than their last spinning toy.
Library News
Book Fair is coming to our school! We will be holding our Book Fair from 27-29 May. Our students are always excited to browse through the Pop-up store in the library. On offer will be a variety of books suitable for all ages, as well as stationary, diaries, kits and posters. Each class will have a thirty-minute slot during the week to browse the Book Fair. Students may bring a wish list home with titles and cost recorded of an item they are interested in. Please note, there is no obligation to purchase.
We will be open before and after school 8:00-3:00 ( Fri only 8:00-11:00) . We look forward to seeing many of our Barkly Highway families during the Book Fair enjoying time together browsing and maybe finding a new book to purchase.
We are awaiting delivery of Book Club #3, and once we receive the orders, they will be handed out to the relevant students.
We greatly appreciate your participation in our many Book Clubs and the Book Fairs throughout the year. With the commissions we earn during these fundraisers, the school is able to purchase new resources for the school, which then directly benefit the students.
Also in May, we will partake in the annual National Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday, 22 May. This year’s chosen book is Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker.
As always, please contact us with any queries you may have.
Kind regards,
Svenja Spitzner-Lewis
Events & Flyer
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
