Highly engaging supervisor visit

This week we hosted Helen McCullough our supervisor for our termly visit. We enjoyed visiting the Prep, year one and year two classes. During the visit we heard the strengthening voice from students and pride to talk about their journey aligned to the learning walls in each class. Some of the feedback around the highlights, improvements and growth from Mrs McCullough were:

• Highly focussed leaders who are articulating consistent high expectations for student learning 
• Emerging feedback to change practice in the use and purpose of learning wall - excellent reflection and evidence of this 
• Clear learning walls - students use and clarity of the learning wall is strengthening and there is opportunity that the team identified to strengthen this further
• Relevant text selection to promote success through connection for students enhancing engagement – CRABBING is a thing clearly in Bowen!
• Synergy of HOSE and HOC – working together to strengthen differentiated teaching and learning
• Instructional leadership roles – everyone is rolling up their sleeves to lead and support in their designated year levels.
• Moderation processes – emerging and clear commitment of internal and external opportunities

As we can see a range of great feedback about the students learnering engagement. Well Done Bowen State! I’m looking forward to enacting on some of the constructive feedback for our next steps and align this to the current strategic work next term.

NAPLAN national testing

On Monday our year 3 and year 5 students embarked on the 2024 NAPLAN testing period. Minister of Education Di Farmer stated to Queensland state school students.
“As you begin this year's NAPLAN testing, I just wanted to send you a quick note to wish you all the best. I also want to give a massive shoutout to our incredible teachers and school staff who support and guide you through all your learning, of which NAPLAN is only one small part. I wish you all the best for the coming days.”

This year we will use the information to guide our teaching and learning and celebrate the concepts that are showing strength through our good first teaching of the V9 Curriculum. Parents will receive results early in term 2 of individual student performance.

Well done students! I am proud of your testing progress so far and look forward to celebrating growth and feedback for our next steps as a school.

Term 1 has been a successful transition into 2024’s learning journey. Students have enjoyed across all cohorts well planned and differentiated lessons ensuring all our students are striving towards academic success.

We are coming in to the last couple of weeks of a very busy and exciting term! Learning and assessment is taking place right up until the last day of school. It is important that students keep attending every day and finish the term strong! However, if you know you are going on holidays early, please keep in contact with your child’s classroom teacher so they can prepare accordingly. At Bowen State School our whole school attendance target is 93% currently our attendance target sits at 90.36%. 

This fortnight social skills value is being a learner and participating in all activities.

Students have learnt about what happens in their own brain when they are learning something new and the associated feeling that is normal when we are presented with a challenge.

We also had a little fun with our PBL PowerPoint to help students learn how to overcome these feeling and keep trying until they have learnt it.

It was a great opportunity for all staff to let students know that we believe in them and know that all students at Bowen can learn despite the challenges they may face that day.

1R has been busy reading and retelling some of our favourite books. So far we have all retold, illustrated and published Koala Lou, The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch, Waddle Giggle Gargle and Kicking with my Left Foot.  We have published them in a variety of ways including oil pastels, story boards, comic books and 3D art. 1R is currently working on a retell of the amazing book Crabbing with Dad.  We have been acting it out with a real crab pot, cast nets and a very convincing cardboard tinny.  We look forward to sharing it with our friends and families in the coming weeks.

In Maths, 3D has been learning about 3-, 4- and 5-digit numbers and their place value. They have placed numbers from smallest to largest and largest to smallest as well as represented numbers in digit and word form. Students have also partitioned numbers in different ways which will help them solve addition and subtraction problems next term. Students will complete their number assessment in Week 9.