Thangool State School eNewsletter

From the Principal

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games have been providing us with many proud and heart warming moments! When you listen to the stories of some of the athletes’ journeys to get to the Olympics, one can only be inspired and in awe of them. Students and staff are enjoying their chats about the Games.

This week I have met with all classroom teachers to discuss each child’s data. It was wonderful to discuss many celebrations of growth and achievement and look to what the next steps in teaching and learning were. Teachers are life long learners and our staff are regularly involved in collaborative conversations, workshops and professional development to constantly build their capability and improve teaching practices for the students at our school.

Have a wonderful week.

Fiona

Illness

Again, we are in the middle of another round of sickness. Parents are asked to remember the current protocols in place for children - if children present as unwell/ sick we will call home and ask for them to be picked up. This is standard practice in schools and is a great strategy to reduce spread.

Let’s keep our focus on the main game of schooling which is teaching and learning. Remember that Every child matters every day and All students can be high achievers. The partnership between home and school (and vice versa) is powerful in ensuring we continue to pursue excellence in education. Other than illness we ask that students are at school everyday.

Students achieve more when they are at school every day learning. Our school goal for attendance is 94%. We are currently sitting at 89.4%. Everyday is a learning day at Thangool.

School Opinion Survey

The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted in Term 3. All families, school staff and students in target year levels (5, 6, 8 and 11) will be invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what our school does well, and how we can improve. An invitation to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey was emailed to one parent/caregiver per family at the start of term. The invitation was sent from the Department of Education, not the school, and it will have the subject line School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2024. Check your junk email folders if you can’t find it. The survey can be completed as soon as the invitation is received and will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone.

Capable Learner Framework

Robotics Competition

Good luck to Miss Dean and her robotics teams who will be involved in the CQ Robotics competition on Friday. They have been working hard since the start of the year and we know they will have a lot of fun and learning as they compete against other schools from CQ.

Date Claimers

We have a couple of exciting events this term. Please ensure you follow us on Facebook for reminders and updates.

Our annual Project Club day is on Monday 19 August-please see event list for categories. This day is as successful as the students make it-so we would love to see every child with an entry in a category.

Book week- On Friday 23 August we have our dress up day for Book week. We love seeing everyone dressed up as a character from a book!

P&C Meeting

P&C MEETING

Please join us on Thursday 15 August 5pm at Red Steer for our next P&C meeting. We’d love to see some new faces.

Code of Conduct Refresher

The Code of Conduct for School Students Travelling on Buses –

Supporting Responsible and Safe Bus Travel

Our school is committed to ensure the safe travel of our Thangool students to and from school.

An effective partnership between parents, students, bus operators, our school and the QLD government requires all groups to encourage and reinforce appropriate behaviours.

Communication between operators and schools will enable issues to be addressed promptly. If you have any concerns with misconduct and breaches of the code, parents are requested to contact the bus operator and the school to enable issues to be solved.

Formal complaints are dealt with and action will be taken to ensure safe travel in consultation with the school, parents and bus operator.

Parents/carers are required to take responsibility for the behaviour of their school-aged children, ensuring students are aware of requirements for bus travel outlined in the code.

Extracts: Transport and Main Roads, 2014, Safe travel of school students: Guiding principles and stakeholder actions

HOC News

What are the stages of learning to become literate?

Literacy is a skill which is built upon through stages. Children develop understandings and skills when they are presented with many opportunities to practise, refine and enjoy literacy experiences. Learning basic skills like reading, writing, spelling generally happen in a certain order. On the Australian Curriculum website, the literacy progressions show the order that most children develop these skills and are mapped from Prep through to Year 10.

The literacy progressions describe the observable indicators of increasing complexity in the use of Standard Australian English language. The literacy progressions include the elements of Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing and Writing. The progressions are a conceptual tool that supports the development of targeted teaching and learning programs for students working at, above or below year-level expectations. Parents are able to view the progressions on the Australian Curriculum website:

https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/literacy?element=0&sub-element=0

An example of the developmental process of learning to write a sentence:

2025 Prep Transition Interviews

We still have spaces available in our Prep class for 2025. If you know of any families who are still considering their options for the coming year, (Prep or any other year level) please ask them to make contact.

SEL News

Year 4 SEL Focus: Communication and Team Building

This term, our Year 4 students have been working on their communication skills through various team-building activities. These hands-on experiences are a powerful vehicle for learning. Effective communication is not an easy skill and each week students are given the opportunity to practise and reflect on their communication. Our debriefs help students reflect on how to express themselves clearly, listen actively, and find more effective ways to navigate conflict.

A big focus has been the concept of ‘Blame, Shame or Claim’. Feel free to chat to your son or daughter to find out more.

Focused Groups: Overcoming Barriers and Encouragement

In our focused SEL groups, students are learning to identify personal barriers that may hold them back from being their best selves.

A big focus we are emphasizing is the importance of encouragement and support within these groups. Students are learning to lift each other up, celebrate successes, and offer constructive feedback.

What’s coming up???

Tony Attwood – Parent workshop opportunity Come dressed as a Staff Member Day

Sports News

Congratulations to our students who were selected in the Port Curtis Athletics Team. They will now travel to Mackay on Monday 19th and 20th August to trial for the Capricornia team.

Please see below the training schedule offered for these participants. If you have any questions, please contact me by email enanc4@eq.edu.au

Over the next week or two, expressions of interest will be made available for cricket, netball and tennis. Students will bring home a paper copy of the expression of interest to be completed and returned. Please watch our newsletter and Facebook page for further information.

P&C News

Term 3 is set to be a big one for the P&C!

We have started off strong by volunteering at the Old Wheels in Motion Rally in July. It was a fantastic opportunity given to us by Amy Moore and Anne Lamb and we thank them very much for that. A big shout out to our Parent volunteers who gave up their valuable time for the day (photos below!).

Another fun way of raising funds has been given to us by the Biloela Bowlo! We will be holding a sausage sizzle at their upcoming Bowlos Eat Street on Saturday August 17th. Thanks to Bianca and her team for the opportunity and we hope to see you there!

🚨 BREAKING NEWS ALERT 🚨 Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough fundraiser is coming to Thangool SS! 🍪 Over the next few weeks, we will be selling dough-licious cookie dough to fundraise for the P&C. All profits go back to the school and your children's education! 👀 Please keep an eye out for an order form that will be sent home in the coming days.

Our meeting will be held on Thursday 15^th August 5pm @ The Red Steer, Thangool. All welcome

Upcoming events/fundraisers:

Next Meeting: Thursday 15^th August at 5pm (Red Steer)
Fathers Day Stall: 14^th and 15^th August
Bowlo's Eat Street: 17^th August
Billy G's Gourmet Cookie Dough: Selling until 18^th August
Red Steer Friday night Meat Tray Raffles during Term 3 - all proceeds kindly donated to our P&C

Volunteer opportunities:
We have plenty of ways for you to get involved and help raise funds for our school.

Tuckshop Volunteer each Friday
Tuckshop Baker each Friday
Selling Friday night Meat Raffle tickets in Term 3 at the Red Steer from approx 5.30pm - 8pm
Needing 2 - 3 Mums to help man the Fathers Day Stall from 8am - 9am
Chasing 3 more volunteers for the Bowlo's Sausage Sizzle (2 hour shifts from 3.30pm-9pm)
Join the crew to collect cans for Containers for Change (collected monthly).

Please reach out if you want to become a volunteer or P&C Member. We would love to have you on board! I can be contacted via FB Messenger (Leonie Wardle) or via email at lnobbs@hotmail.com.

Library News

Book Week is approaching fast. This year the theme of Book Week is Reading is Magic. We will be holding a Book Fair during the week and ending with a Dress up as your favourite book character on the Friday. Please see our Facebook page for further details regarding opening times for the Book Fair.

Project Club News

Project Club Day will be held on Monday 19th August 2024. The day will conclude with our annual auction at 1.45pm. Project Club Day is held every year, and it is similar to a mini agricultural show. Students can make and bring items to enter, and our guest judges will judge each section. This is also a major fundraiser for our Project Club. Students can choose to donate their items (usually cookery, flowers, produce, fruit and vegetables) to be auctioned in the afternoon. Parents are welcome to come along and bid at the auction as well. It promises to be a great day as always.

Please see the link below for all the events that can be entered.