Barkly Highway State School - Term 4 Week 8
Principal's Welcome
Welcome to our final Newsletter for 2024.
This year has been another great year at Barkly Highway State School – student achievement continues to improve, attendance has remained high across the school, student reading skills have lifted and our Barkly ‘Bs’ have continued to be the fabric that keeps student behaviour on track. I thank everyone for their unrelenting work in putting student achievement and wellbeing as their priority and acknowledge their efforts to build their teaching and support capacity to do the best job they can. I thank all staff for their support and hard work this year. Cleaners, grounds staff, teacher aides, teachers and office staff – they do a great job! I also recognise the continued support that we receive from our P&C and appreciate their work in providing the families of Barkly Highway State School with access to tuckshop and uniform supplies. A final thank you goes to our families who have trusted us to educate and care for their children. You have supported the learning in the classrooms and been open to ensuring that your children are able to participate in the extra-curricular activities offered. The students, staff and parents of Barkly Highway State School are all committed to making our school the best it can be.
Our traditional ‘big ticket’ items are planned for next week, week 9.
Monday morning at 8:30, is our ‘Awards Parade’ when we acknowledge highly performing students in the areas of academic achievement, academic encouragement, HPE, The Arts, NAPLAN and attendance. Our 2025 school leaders will also be announced and introduced to the school community.
Monday evening, starting at 6:00, is also our ‘Farewell / Christmas Concert’ when each class contributes to an evening of performances. While on Wednesday evening at 6:00, at the Overlander we farewell our Year 6 students as they mark their final year of primary school and prepare themselves for their last transition to high school. Some of these Year 6 students are the youngest of their families, so next week signals the end of their family’s day-to-day relationship with Barkly Highway State School. To these families, I wish them all the best and thank them for the years that they have been involved in our school.
Next week will be the last week at Barkly Highway State School for some of our staff. I thank all our outgoing staff – Cameron Alley, Kasenka McGilchrist, Amelia Wood, Kate Thomas, Ash Benson, Jill Seymour and Cathy Muguira for their work and commitment to the students and school community of our great school and wish them success in their new schools for 2025.
On Thursday of week 10,
- Academic Reporting for Semester 2 will be emailed to families.
- 2025 class details on which we start the year will be sent home with students.
These class groups will remain in place until Day 8 enrolments (second week of Term 1) are confirmed. Please be aware that classes for 2025 have been formed through a very thorough process that has taken note of each student’s academic, behavioural and social/emotional levels. I thank families who provided additional information about their children for consideration for their 2025 class placement.
Enjoy the holidays. Make the most of the time that you get to spend together with family and friends. For the 59 year 6 students transitioning to high school and families leaving our school this year, we wish you well in your future endeavours. Everyone who are returning, we will see you back at Barkly Highway State School for the first day of school on Tuesday 28 January 2025.
Kind regards,
Fiona Kropp
Mrs Robert's Report
P-5 Awards and 2025 Leadership
On Monday, 25 November we will be holding our annual P-5 Awards Parade. Our Year 6 students will be presented with their awards at their Farewell on Wednesday evening. All families are welcomed to attend the parade from 8:25 in the undercover area. The 2025 School Leaders will be announced and receive their ‘temporary’ badges. Award recipients and families are invited to remain afterwards for some light refreshments that our P&C have prepared.
Before Phase Moderation – Unit 1, 2025
The purpose of before phase moderation is to support our teachers in Prep – 6 to develop a deep understanding of the targeted aspects of the achievement standard being assessed; align curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting using moderation processes. This week, Cameron Alley and I spent time moderating with our teaching staff to plan for the first English unit, in 2025. It was wonderful to collaboratively work with our staff and listen to the engaging conversations of what learning they will bring to your child’s classroom next year!
End of Year Concert
Come along and enjoy an evening of singing and dancing to celebrate the end of year. Wonderful performances by each class. Have you placed your meal order through flexishcool? Orders close tomorrow morning. Snacks and drinks will be available to purchase on the night. BYO chairs.
P&C News
Our P&C would like to thank everyone who has been a part of it this year for another fantastic year, making this the best P&C in Mount Isa, and one of the best in QLD! We have had a huge year, with $20,000 helping us to purchase iPad's and get the QR Code Outdoor Adventure Classroom happening. We had volunteers, machines and everything working to get the bollards installed and ready to go. I think the kids love getting to use them when they can.
We also finished off the cricket nets area, with sporting clubs using it for men's trainings, we have over 50 juniors using the ovals on Thursday from across Mount Isa and Cloncurry because of our facilities.
We finished doing the IBC Garden area out the front of the Resource Center, with some fake grass to be laid to finish it off.
We ran sports stalls, discos, instrumental gala night stalls, Slip n Splash events, supported our Rock Pop Mime teams financially, bought more books for the school, bomb-the-teachers fundraisers, our Tuckshop is being loved every day it is open, and also have the Bottle Cap recycling being utilised when we have the volunteers.
It's another huge year, and we couldn't do it without the support of the school admin, school teachers, P&C members, tuckshop staff, volunteers and our awesome executive team. Leah Wilcox being our Secretary, Candice Turner our Treasurer and Tuckshop Co-ordinator, Al Grubb as Vice-President and Mischa Grummitt as President. We have a great team and we hope that all the students and families enjoy all we have done this past year.
Thank you again and we hope everyone enjoys the Christmas Concert and Slip n Splash events coming up!
Regards,
Mischa Grummitt
P&C President
Prep Chickens
Have you heard the news? Our flock has grown by two with the highly anticipated arrival of our chicks. The chicks hatched a couple of weeks ago and have been growing very fast. We take pride in our job of caring for the chickens and work hard to keep their enclosure cool and tidy. We love our Prep chickens. 🐓
Recycling Program ♻️
Our students have been diving into the world of recycling during our recent social skills and Think Tank sessions. Through a series of engaging videos, they've learned about the different types of waste, the importance of recycling, and its positive impact on the environment. With yellow lid recycling bins being delivered to homes soon, we're excited to continue our journey by understanding what can go into the recycling bin and why it matters. While it's a new challenge for us all, everyone has been super engaged and excited to take this next step toward a more sustainable future!
Library News
The end of Term 4 is approaching fast, and with that we need to return all student loans to the library by the end of this week please. Regular overdue notices are sent out to affected students.
Book Club #8 has been ordered and we are awaiting delivery.
Book Fair orders were all handed out last week.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any queries.
Kind regards,
Svenja Spitzner-Lewis
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
