Term 2 Week 6 Newsletter 26 May 2022
From the Principal's Desk
We are now at the busy end of term. Teachers are entering into reporting and classes are busy starting assessment of all the great learning that has occurred throughout the term.
For the remainder of the term we have five-day weeks. Keep an eye out via future newsletters, Facebook, emails as there are a few extra activities happening during the rest of the term for various age groups or whole school. Some of the extra things to keep an eye out for include: Arts Council, Sports Day, STEAM Day, Callide Athletics Carnival, Bright Future STEM Incursion, Assembly.
On Monday and Tuesday, we welcome back Mrs Caroline Blackley (Four Dimensions-Behaviour). Caroline will be running a whole day workshop with all staff followed by observations in classrooms to provide feedback to our teachers. It is great to see our staff continuing to be learners and welcoming feedback to continually improve their practices.
Behaviour
This week students have been reminded about our high expectations of behaviour, this includes travelling to and from school. We have spoken about our school rules: -We Care, We Learn, We are Safe and the importance of following those rules. We also unpacked again the words responsibility and respect in particular our communication with others. We value our school and home partnership and encourage parents to continue to have these conversations at home.
- What does respect look like, sound like?
- How can you demonstrate responsibility?
- What do our 3 school rules mean and how do you demonstrate this when travelling to and from school and in everyday activities?
We have a great school and great kids-continued high expectations of behaviour is an important foundation of our capable learner framework. Thank you for your continued support.
Attendance
Students achieve more when they are at school every day learning. Our current attendance is 89.2%, our school goal for attendance is 94%. There are some real challenges in “catching up” after such an unusual start to the term, so parents are asked to make sure absences are genuine. No pressure should ever be felt to send children when unwell-just be mindful that other absences can be avoided.
School Uniform
With the cooler weather starts to our days many students are wearing long sleeves. Please be reminded that the jumpers need to be black, have no logos/writing on them and definitely have NO hoods. Long pants need to be black too. NO jeans. SOCKS – to be worn at ankle height. HATS need to be brought to school every day. Please ensure all items are labelled.
Year 6 Camp
Our year 6 Leadership camp was a big success and the weather was kind to us! A huge thank you to Ms Hyland, Ms Symes and Chappy Casey for a wonderful 2 days. Our students are so very lucky to have such dedicated staff willing to plan, organise and attend camps giving our students wonderful learning opportunities and lifetime memories.
On the 19th of May, the Grade 6’s went to Pelican Point for their Leadership Camp. For two days, they used their teamwork skills to build trust within their class. Some highlights of camp were the campfire and the canoeing. Some challenges we faced were the number of ants near our swags and the setting up of our swags. Overall, we had a great time and we learnt many valuable skills such as teamwork and trust.
Kayley and Ava
Under 8's Day
Another wonderful day on our school calendar is under 8s day. Thank you to our awesome P-3 teachers and aides for ensuring another successful day. The year 4-6 student’s afternoon activities were once again a huge hit with the children. What a great way to be playful and embrace learning!
AITSL Summit
Ellen and I have attended the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) Summit for Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers. At the Summit they listened to Emeritus Laureate Professor John Hattie discuss how to improve student outcomes through building teacher expertise and participated in discussions with other leading educators that focussed on strategies for school improvement using latest evidence based research. It was a privilege to be invited to share Thangool’s best practice with other schools from across Australia.
Guidance Counsellor
This week, on Thursday 26th May, National Sorry Day will be commemorated. National Sorry Day was first observed in 1998, and is acknowledged every year. Many communities commemorate the day by conducting a Bridge Walk, the first of which was across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the year 2000. Others have been held in Brisbane (The Gateway Bridge), Hobart (The Tasman Bridge) and other centres such as Nowra, Bateman’s Bay and Canberra, to name but a few. Hundreds of thousands of people have joined each other on these bridge-walks over the years, symbolising the hope for healing and reconciliation between First Nations People and Non-indigenous Australians – “crossing, or closing, the gap between two sides.”
The purpose of this day is to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how all Australians are able to play a part in that healing process. Healing is important for our social and emotional wellbeing and overall mental health. It helps us function as human beings, and enables us to gain more from our life-experiences, thus contributing more not only to our own lives, but to the lives of those around us as well.
Reconciliation is a most valuable tool in the healing of emotional and mental struggles, as the positive impact is felt by all parties concerned. Reconciliation is not only of value at a national level, but community, family and personal levels as well. It allows us to let go of pain caused by past events and move on to a more fulfilling and productive life in both our work and personal lives.
Our mental health and wellbeing requires just as much nurturing and support as our physical wellbeing, and each impacts the other. Physical activity helps keep us mentally and emotionally well as much as it helps us keep physically well. Emotional wellbeing helps us to embrace life and engage in the physical aspects on offer.
I am at Thangool State School every second Friday, and have changed from even weeks to odd weeks commencing 20th May. I can be contacted by calling the school on 4990 0333, if there is anything you would like to talk about regarding how to support your child.
David Reeves
(Guidance Officer)
Beyond Blue Kids Helpline Lifeline Australia
www.beyondblue.org.au www.kidshelpline.com.au 13 11 14
1300 22 4636 1800 55 1800
From our HOC
Oral Language and Early Literacy Experiences
To support your child with ‘learning to read’, oral language (speaking and listening) is critical. Scaffolding early literacy and oral language experiences provide a strong foundation for later English literacy development. (Clarke, 1999, Clarke, 2001). From birth children are developing their understanding of the world around them and require opportunities to explore and be exposed to, and participate in literacy activities. Oral language and early literacy experiences need to consider the complexities of children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds who grow up in a range of social and cultural contexts. (Jones Diaz et al, 2001).
For older children, in years 3 – 6, oral language development moves from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’. Students use prior knowledge, comprehension skills to understand texts and engage in conversations. Inferencing skills develop, they can retell stories, generate and justify ideas. They understand cause and effect, fact and opinion. Providing opportunities for open-ended discussions assists students develop their cr
Student of the Week
Congratulations to the following students for receiving awards during Week 4 and 5
Student of the Week
Prep - Being persistent and proud of himself when writing
1 - Naya- For her resilience when solving problems
1 - Layla - For always trying her best in all areas to be a capable learner
2 - Logan J - For demonstrating persistence in his learning. Keep up the great work Logan!
2 - Fin - For embracing challenge and demonstrating persistence when working with number sequences
3 - Sophie - For being a capable learner and trying your hardest at all times
4 - Sam - Settling in well and embracing challenges
4 - Lydia - Settling in well and embracing challenges
5 - Gemma
6 - Sam - For embracing the challenges of camp
Principal's Award - Cate
Athletics Carnival
Our Athletics Carnival is approaching fast. Junior Carnival - Thursday 9th June. Senior Carnival - Friday 10th June. Please see flyers below for more information.
Scholastic Book Club
Issue 4 Book Club is available now. Please see the link below to access the catalogue. Orders need to be placed by 10th June 2022. Parents can order online and the order will be sent to school. Just a friendly reminder that we cannot accept cash payments at school.
School Performance Tour - 6th June 2022
Thangool School will be hosting a School Performance Tour "Brilliant at Being Resilient". Information is being sent home with the eldest students later this week. A copy of the note is attached below.