56A Queen Street Caloundra Qld 4551 Website: https://caloundrass.eq.edu.au/ Email: [email protected] Phone: 07 5439 4200 Fax: 07 5439 4222 Subscribe to Online Newsletter! http://caloundrass.schoolzinenewsletters.com/subscribe 19 March 2015 FROM THE PRINCIPAL: Child Safety Making sure your children arrive at school and get home safely are some of our major concerns – as I am certain it is yours! A big part of this is completely up to you as a parent. Please obey the road rules, particularly before and after school. We often see people double parking around the school then beckoning their children to come running into the car. This may be quick and easy but you are putting your children in danger, blocking the flow of traffic and making it more difficult for the people doing the right thing to park and collect their children safely. Please be responsible and safe. After all – that is what we ask our children to do every day. BE A ROLE MODEL! School Fair We have a new and exciting plan for our School Fair this year where we are working in conjunction with the Fringe Festival and the Caloundra Music Festival organisers with an option to hold our fair at Kings Beach. The committee at the moment is small but very enthusiastic and they would love to see a few more people involved in the planning. This is a fantastic opportunity to help the P&C raise their funds which directly help your child. Please consider how you can help our school community – we know you have plenty of ideas on how to create a great fair so come and share your thoughts and support our school. The next meeting is 31 March, 6:30pm in the school staffroom. Super P & C At the P&C meeting on Monday night, the committee decided to give $15000 to the school this year to boost some areas: $5000 to the purchase of iPads and computers; $5000 to P-6 classroom resources and $5000 to the purchase of books for the library. This is fantastic as it gives the school the opportunity to do “something special” in these areas. I sincerely thank all parents who have helped the P&C raise money to support our school. This year, the P&C may also look at some big projects – if they can raise sufficient funds. Remember, last year the P&C gave $15000 to the school and $15000 for air conditioning in the office and Yr1 classrooms, and the year before was $12000 to the school and $15000 for the Big Fan in the hall. Super effort! Super result! All for our Super Students!! Interim Reports At the end of term, your child will receive an Interim Report card. This report is to inform you of how your child is progressing with effort, attitude and behaviour at school this term. It is intended to give you an idea of how your child is learning as well as a focus for your parent/teacher interview conversation. Please keep your eye out for the interview schedule that will be sent home by your child’s teacher soon, as the interviews will either be at the end of this term or the first 2 weeks of next term. Attendance Rewards Can your child afford to be away from school for 4 weeks of the year? Do you think your child will reach their potential if they are at school for one tenth of the time? We all know that they can’t! But if your child is away once a fortnight, then that is what they are missing. That is why this year’s Interim Reports will also show your child’s attendance percentage. We are focussing on attendance more overtly this year to ensure we meet our school attendance target of 93% so that we can provide the best opportunities for your child to learn – but they have to be at school. At the week 10 whole school parade, we will rewarding and recognising those students who achieve 95% attendance or above as well as a special award for those achieving 100%. We are also going to reward each class that achieves an average attendance of 95% or more. Thanks for your understanding as it is important that you support this so your child can have the chance to achieve their potential. Say NO TO BULLYING At our school we aim to create a safe and supportive school community for everyone. Sometimes, it can be difficult for parents or carers to know what to do when their child talks to them about bullying. You are an important part of our work to prevent bullying and to respond effectively if it happens. Stopping bullying involves everyone. If your child talks to you about bullying: 1. Listen calmly and get the full story. Your calm response is important to allow your child to tell you all about the situation. After they’ve told you their story, ask questions to get more details if you need to: who, what, where, when. Although you may feel some strong emotions about your child’s experience, try to keep calm to avoid more distress to your child. 2. Reassure your child they are not to blame. Many children blame themselves and this may make them feel even worse. You could say things like, ‘That sounds really hard to deal with. No one should have to put up with that.’ or ‘I’m so glad you told me. You should be able to feel safe at school; that’s not fair at all’. 3. Ask your child what they want to do and what they want you to do. A critical part of your response is to avoid jumping in to solve the problem. While it is natural to want to protect your child, helping them to find their own solution is a better option. It helps them feel they have some power in the situation. 4. Visit www.bullyingnoway.gov.au to find some strategies. The website has tips and ideas for different bullying situations. One idea is to practise strategies at home to help your child feel more confident. 5. Contact the school. Your child may be reluctant for you to do this, so discuss the idea and reassure them that the school would want to know and is able to help. Make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher and, if you need to, ask to talk with the principal. Contact the school immediately if you have a concern about your child’s safety. 6. Check in regularly with your child. Keep the conversation going. It can take time to resolve issues, so check in regularly with your child about their experiences and their feelings. Your ongoing support is important. Don't forget, our school is taking part in the 2015 National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence on Friday 20 March. Wear something ORANGE. If you are looking for support for yourself to deal with a bullying situation, you will find ideas on the Bullying. No Way! website for parents. As well, please contact the school if you would like to discuss any aspect of our approach to preventing bullying. Thanks for your support to make our school a great school for everyone. http://bullyingnoway.gov.au/national-day/index.html FROM THE DEPUTY: Schoolwide Positive Behaviour This week students will be learning all about "Being Responsible" in all areas of the school. They will all engage in lessons about being responsible and be able to put in practise what they have learnt. Make sure you ask your son or daughter about their lesson as the values taught at school are also very applicable at home. 2015 School Fair Thankyou to the people who have contacted the office to make sure their name is added to the volunteer list for later in the year. I will be contacting you in the near future to let you know how you can help. We will be looking for sponsors shortly and hope to be organising a large raffle for the event. So if anyone wants to jump on board as major sponsor of the Fair, now is the time to be contacting the school. A car would be a great donation! Easter Hat Parade I hope all mums and dads from our Prep to year two classes have pencilled in the 2nd of April. There is only one little change, this year the parade time is going to be different. We will kick off the proceedings at 1:50pm, straight after lunch time. The Easter Bunny will certainly be making an appearance and maybe he will bring along some Easter eggs as well. Make sure you bring along other family members to make the parade even bigger. Say No to Bullying and Harmony day This Friday the 20th of March is going to be a double celebration day with students celebrating Harmony Day and Say No to Bullying Day. Harmony Day is a day that we show our appreciation for all the great cultures that make up the Australian population. For a gold coin donation students in year 3-6 will be able to sample some food from around the world and be able to listen to music that they probably have never heard before. Mr Li will also be using his French class time to expose students to different cultural lessons and events. It is appropriate that Say No to Bullying Day is the same day as Harmony Day as it helps reinforce the idea of tolerance and understanding. All students will participate in a colouring competition and their class teacher will be basing their behaviour lessons with anti-bullying resources. This is a good time for all of us to remind our children of the importance of accepting everyone for who they are and modelling this for them in the way we act and speak. UNSW COMPETITIONS This competition is open to ALL students. Please note the correct dates of the competitions are: Science – 03 June 2015 English – 28 July 2015 Mathematics – 11 August 2015 2 The permission note for this is available from the office. The forms and money are to be returned by Friday 01 May. HEAD OF LEARNING: Teacher Observation and Feedback With the term well and truly underway, I thought I would share a little bit of information on teacher observation. Now that the first round of teacher SMART goals has been developed, teacher observation is a powerful tool to ensure teachers are provided with the appropriate feedback to assist them in attaining their professional goals. So, how do we know what to observe? Central to the observation process is the Caloundra SS Curriculum Framework. Essentially this document provides teachers with the how of teaching. If we know the elements of how to teach, observers can look for these elements when observing teachers. Caloundra SS’s Curriculum Framework is based on the Art and Science of Teaching developed by the American educational theorist; Dr Robert Marzano. What we have found since first establishing the Curriculum Framework in 2012, is • That our teachers were ‘already doing’ many of the elements of the Curriculum Framework however it wasn’t until we used the terminology provided by the Art and Science of Teaching that teachers were able to ‘put a name’ to what they were doing. E.g. Previewing New Content • That teachers ‘had done’ some of the elements in the past but due to the current curriculum demands were no-longer doing them. E.g. Using Academic Games and • That teachers ‘didn’t do’ some of the elements as they didn’t know they were important. E.g. Providing Clear Learning Goals In total there are 41 elements that observers can ‘look-for’. During the first round of teacher-observations, teachers can choose to be observed on a single element or a number of elements and to then receive feedback. Like the students attending Caloundra SS, our teachers are continually learning and developing new skills to enable them to teach students FROM THE OFFICE: It’s Time to Smile for School Photo Day Monday 30th March Have your child/children’s school memories captured forever. Photo envelopes have been sent home with all students with information on how to order. Please take the time to read the relevant information on the MSP Photography payment envelopes. • Family envelopes are available at the school office for sibling photos. • Don’t seal envelopes inside each other. • You can put the payment for all children in one envelope however, each child needs to have their own envelope on photo day for their individual order. • Please enclose correct money as no change is given. Cash and Cheques only. Credit Card payments can be made prior to photo day via our online ordering system www.msp.com.au • Do not send photo envelopes to school before photo day. Envelopes must be brought in on Monday the 30th March only. • If you have any enquiries please contact MSP photos on 07 3865 4291 or email [email protected] SRS Payments Due The final instalment for SRS is due on the 27th March. If you are paying by instalments please see the office to finalise your accounts. All SRS participation (or Non-Participation) agreement forms must be signed and returned to the school. If you are having difficulty in paying your SRS please see the school office to organise a payment plan. Canberra Instalment Due The first instalment payment for Canberra is due on the 27th March for $300.00. We are happy to accept advance payments at any time to apply against this excursion. Also available is the automatic Centrelink deductions paid directly to the school on your behalf. Please see the school office anytime you need a current balance of your account. PE: Sports News It has been great to see that a number of students have attended Coastal District Sports Trials already this year and a number of girls are trialling for netball and hockey this week. So far no students have been selected in the District teams, but with 17 schools in our catchment it is no easy feat. For example, last week over 70 students from these schools attended the U11 rugby league trials and only 17 were selected. Upcoming trials include Basketball, Touch, Tennis, Rugby Union and Cricket. Further information can be sourced from the school’s website at www.caloundrass.eq.edu.au Last Friday 13 March our school rugby league team competed in the Development Cup competition here in Caloundra. The super coach, Mr. Adkins was very proud of their efforts with wins over Talara and Currimundi, but were out played by Mooloolaba, who went on to win the competition. With limited 3 playing experience the team should be congratulated on their efforts. Cross country training continues within each class, during PE lessons and some before school sessions. Students are encouraged to set goals for themselves that are achievable and always strive to improve their result. Regardless of their speed or pace students are encouraged to complete full laps of the track, rather than a constant run/walk/run/walk pattern within a lap. It is great to see the joy on student’s faces when they make it the whole way round and in a surprised but proud voice say, “I did it Mr. Rosenthal.” CALENDER OF EVENTS: Date: Event: 18 Mar Yr 3-6 Parade 8.50am 19 Mar Just Dance 20 Mar Harmony Day Activities Payment Date: Event: 02 April Easter Hat Parade Prep - Yr 2 @1.50pm Payment Date: Yr 3-6 Cross Country Interim reports go home 02 April Last Day of Term 03 April GOOD FRIDAY 20 April Term 2 - Return to School SUPPORT SERVICES: Prep –Yr2 Parade 2.30pm Just Dance Say No to Bullying Day – Wear Orange The Busy Bee program has started at the afterschool care area at Caloundra State School. Young children have been having fun painting with cotton buds and droppers, making playdough, dancing, singing and listening to stories. Every Tuesday at 9.00 am all children between the ages of 2 and 5 are welcome to attend. Next Tuesday 24th March, the guest speaker is Emma Linthwaite, a speech pathologist who will be educating parents about letter awareness – preparing young children for literacy. For more information about the Busy Bees program, please call Merryn Tuck 5439 4200. 23 MAR Parent Teacher Interviews commence 25 Mar Yr 3-6 Parade 8.50am 26 Mar Just Dance 27 Mar 3rd & Final Instalment SRS due 27 Mar ALD Volunteers Program 1st instalment payment for Canberra due - $300.00 27 Mar The ALD (Assisting Literacy Development) program is well underway at Caloundra State School. Around 15 volunteers are participating in this program helping to support classroom teachers with reading groups and one-on-one reading. This support is highly beneficial for all children, but mostly any children that need a little extra boost to improve their reading skills. If you would like to become an ALD volunteer and receive some training on how to support children with their reading in the classroom, please contact Kelly or Merryn. Prep –Yr2 Parade 2.30pm Just Dance – Last lesson 30 Mar Easter Hat Practice 30 Mar School Photo Day 31 Mar Wakakirri Auditions 01 April Morning Tea with the Stars 10.30am Whole School Parade 2.30pm JUNIOR DISCO PREP – YR2: 4.30 – 6.30 SENIOR DISCO YR 3 – YR6: 6.30 – 8.30 4 Date: 30 Mar YR 1A: Lessons on the Ovals Over the past few weeks the Year ones have spent some time down on the junior oval being scientists. A teacher from the Bilai Environmental Education Centre visited the school and guided the Year ones through a number of lessons that explored healthy and unhealthy environments and looked at the external features of insects and animals. The children discovered the differences between healthy and unhealthy environments and the importance of keeping an environment healthy. They also discovered why insects and animals have certain external features. The children all had a fantastic time being scientists although one class had to cope with the wet whilst another class the heat. They all enjoyed using the scientific equipment and being taught outdoors. Yesterday Year 1A did Bilai on the oval. We looked in binoculars and after we looked through analoops. We then talked about healthy and unhealthy environments. Mine was hollow logs. I put mine in the healthy. I made a snail and an ant with the clay. I had a fun day. By Patrick E Yesterday we had Bilai come to the oval. We were learning to be scientists with Tony our Bilai teacher. Then we rolled hoops on the ground. We had 3 people in our teams. Then it started to rain so we came up to our classroom. We talked about healthy and unhealthy things. Then we made clay. I made a frog. I had a great day. By Pip B Yesterday our class went to the oval. We did look for bugs. We looked at their external features. Tony gave us binoculars and we looked at birds. I saw a bird in a nest. I made a snail out of clay. I had a good day. My favourite part was making a shell for the snail. By Justin H and raced the other geese. Sometimes she was astonished by the beautiful pond. She loved to jump off broken branches and she felt content. One day her mother said they were leaving. Lucy did not want to leave the pond where she had lived since she was a tiny baby. She was petrified. She ran into the scary bushes where the reeds were waving like shadows of ghosts. Lucy suddenly felt jubilant when she heard her mum calling her. She flew into the pitch black sky and overcame her fears. STUDENT OF THE WEEK: P1/ Week 7: Addison O - For a super effort learning her A sight words and for being a super friend to others. Week 8: James H - For showing super listening skills in our class games and for being a super worker in group activities. PB Week 7: Toby H - For being a learner in all areas. Week 8: Ella T - For fantastic effort with reading. PC Week 7: Tia R- For being a respectful student. Week 8: Rome H - For always having a go and participating in class. 1A Week 7: Veronika K- For always participating in class and having a go. Week 8: Jake N - For always participating enthusiastically during science lessons. 1B Laelani D - For being a 'switched on' learner who is always ready to help! 2A Week 7: Paddy S - For great reading and writing. Week 8: Nesta S-O - For a super narrative . YR 2B: Lucy Goosey by Nikaya S 2B Lucy Goosey adored her wonderful pond with sunny, sun flowers. The next day she said she was never going to leave her home and she started to play Bopper with the other ducks. She lived with her mum. She liked to throw branches, rocks and leaves into the pond. Back then when she was a baby the rock seemed as long as a giraffe’s neck. She felt brave and bold and very secure. One night her mother told her they had to fly to a new home. Lucy was worried about leaving her home where she had lived all her life. When it was time to go Lucy ran into the dark and scary bushes and fell asleep. At night she woke up and it was as quiet as a mouse. She was afraid her mum had left without her. She didn’t think she would ever see her mum again. Then her mum told her to be brave and bold and that she would always be there for her. They flew off into the dark, night sky and quickly joined the others. 2B Lina H - For beautiful, detailed art work. 2C Tayla T – For always being respectful in all areas. 3A Bailey - For participating enthusiastically during Maths activities. 3B Week 7: Lillian D - For always being Respectful and Responsible - always staying on task and doing her best. Week 8: Elijah W – For being a Respectful and Responsible Learner - Great Work in Literacy and Numeracy. 3/ 4D Week 7:- Abigail B - For her creative and imaginative story that she shared with the class. 4A Isabel W – For being respectful by using lovely manners and courteous language. Finn B – For being a responsible student in all areas of her schooling and behaviour. 4B Week 8: Kiara P – For always trying her best and following school values. Lucy Goosey by Michael C 2B Lucy Goosey lived in a magical,shiny pond with wavy leaves and rocks as big as rhinos. Every day she had the best swim Kian T- For excellent learning and behaviour. 4C Haylee L - For being kind and hard working. 5 5A Kimberley B -For always following Caloundra School values. Jack C- For his great effort with both his school work and sport. 5B Tayla W - For always being an excellent role model for her peers. Week 8: Lachlan E - For always putting in a great effort in all areas of school work. 5/ 6C WK 7 - Sam B - For trying his best in class, and being a great part of the 5/6 team. 6A Ethan G - For excellent participation and effort in sport and schoolwork. 6B Week7: Jessica W – For being a very respectful and conscientious student. Week8: Ella F – For striving to achieve your goals and taking pride in your work. P & C NEWS: Lunch on Lighthouse Uniforms - Polo shirts are all in stock now. Unfortunately we are still waiting for the dresses to arrive sorry for the delay. Date Claimers! MUSIC CORNER: It is always a busy week at Caloundra Primary and only teaching music for 3 days seems to make the time go quickly. Every lesson counts as there is so much learning happening. My aim through this newsletter, is to share some of the activities your children do in music with me. The Preps, Year 1’s and Year 2’s have been singing our School Rule Song “BE YOUR BEST” for the last few weeks. We all stood up and sang it on junior parade recently. If you have some of these children ask them to show you how it goes. You could echo their singing and actions, until the last line when you say it together. Be safe Be responsible Be safe And respectful too If you be your best And do the rest Then you’ll (2 claps) be a learner. Happy music making till next time from Mrs O Year 6 students making musical canons sound fun Monday 30th March - Free parent information session with Lawyer Geoff Lyons regarding Wills and Power of Attorney at 6pm in the staffroom. A separate note will be sent home shortly. Tuesday 31st March - Fair meeting, 6.30pm in the staffroom. Please consider helping out on this very important committee. The Fair this year will be our major fundraiser and as such requires many hands to put it together. Thank you! Term 1 Easter Disco - Wednesday 1st April. Junior Disco - Prep to Year 2 - 4.30pm - 6.30pm. Ticket $5.00 pre-sold or $8.00 at the door. Senior Disco - Year 3 to Year 6 - 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Tickets $8.00 pre-sold or $12.00 at the door. Please note Year 3 students are now included in the Senior Disco! There will be an Easter Hamper raffle drawn on the night. Donations of Easter Treats can now be left at 1A or the office. We always need parents to help supervise the Disco’s, collect & sell tickets, serve in the shop, sell raffle tickets and help serve food. Please contact P&C or leave your details at the office if you can help out on the night. Thank you! To contact P&C email - [email protected] or leave contact details at the office. Craft Club is on Tuesday lunch times! Please drop in any recycled cereal, biscuit or other small boxes to the office. Thank you. Next P&C Meeting - 20th April, 2015, 6.30pm, in the staffroom. All welcome. 6 Year 6’s have been performing rhythmic canons on percussion instruments Year 2’s have been playing the rhythm of songs on un-tuned percussion instruments like the these finger cymbals. Year 2’s are enjoying working on simple so and me patterns on the felt music staffs LOTE NEWS: Games and Free Range language learning. LIBRARY CORNER: Year 2 students have begun using a new collection of books in the library. The junior non-fiction books provide a dedicated selection of information books more suited to the inquisitive junior primary student. The year one students will have the opportunity to borrow from this collection next term after some lessons with me. Cheers Parents/ Dear Parents, During my primary school years I can’t recall ever having a single “fun” lesson with my teachers. It was always bookish work, written work and boring work. So you can imagine my reaction when Australian students ask me, “Monsieur Li, can we have a “fun” lesson today? I always thought fun and learning couldn’t mix. “ You don’t think school is Dreamworld do you?” used to be my standard answer. After years of frustration, one day I finally saw the light: Students are reminded to return their library books before the Easter holidays. There will be no student borrowing in the last week of term. Computer Bytes This term prep, year 1 and year 2 students have been visiting the library each Tuesday to work with me in utilising a variety of technology resources available in our school. So far students have used the following; • IPads • Desktop computers • Interactive White Boards • Bee Bot programmable robots If the Mountain doesn’t come to Mohamed, Mohamed goes to the Mountain. And so did I. Now, I regularly take my students of French to Dreamworld, metaphorically speaking. Using games in the classroom is one of the most important ways to teach a language efficiently. Games mean the world to children. Nothing is more fun than playing games for them because they feel happy and free while playing. Remember when you were a child. You will remember the games you played as the happiest moments of your life. Children should be given the opportunity to learn and “live” that language in a “free range” environment. This is where Language Games provides the illusion of “free rangeness”. Students learn more quickly and retain the learned materials better in a stress-free and comfortable environment. A la prochaine! See you next time! Joseph Li Teacher of French • Accessing online learning sites like Reading Eggs • Creating multi model presentations with Create a Super Story The students have improved their mouse skills and many are independently logging on to the school network. They are all enthusiastic learners. Chris O’Sullivan Librarian/ICT ADOPT A COP: Well Ride2School Day last Friday 13 March 2015 was a fun and enjoyable morning for all that attended. Overall we had 142 students, parent and teachers attend for the ride to school. This year I set an extra challenge for the students; decorate your helmet. Congratulations to all those students who took up the challenge this year. Senior Sergeant Gavin Ricketts from the Caloundra Police Station judged the helmets this year 7 and he awarded first place to Bailey C, Second Place to Pipi B and Third Place to Paige C. Well done you three! Thank you also to Chappy Craig and Mrs Chappy for putting on a breakfast for all the hungry riders to school. It was very much appreciated….he told me that he made up 15 litres of cordial that morning compared to only 10 litres on a normal Wednesday brekkie. On a sadder note, I am still seeing parent’s double parking around the school especially in George Street near the Dental Building. Last week a few parents informed me that a couple of students had a near miss by a vehicle that was double parked. Whilst off duty, I have noticed one vehicle in particular which parks every afternoon from 2.45pm till 3.05pm in the same spot. You know who you are; please stop forthwith. All parents please be reminded that it is an offence to double park and tickets will be issued if you break the law. Easter is approaching and this is a timely reminder that police will be out in force over the coming weeks as it is especially busy that time each year on the roads. Please drive safely and adopt safe road practices. COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD: Vacation Care at Helping Hands Chelona Come and join us for some holiday fun! School Holidays are fast approaching, they will be here before we know it. Are you looking for care? Vacation Care runs from 7th-17th April 2015, 6:30am-6:00pm Mon-Fri. We have excursions, incursions, sports, games, crafts, cooking, music & drama activities to suit all ages. Phone 0475 825 344 or Email [email protected] for a copy of the program or more information! WOULD YOU LIKE TO HOST AN OVERSEAS EXCHANGE STUDENT Learn about another culture, learn a new language or perhaps improve your culinary skills 8 Hosting - An Experience for Life Student Exchange is looking for host families across Australia to welcome overseas students into their home http://www.studentexchange.org.au/host-a-student or call 1300 135 331 for more information
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