Welcome back

Welcome back to all families to an action-packed Term 3. During the holidays our school received our English and Maths data against like schools and our school demographic. Our prep – Year 6 students went “Above expectations” for the English “C and above data”.

A huge shout out to the following cohorts for outstanding Semester 1 results aligned to the data we received for our school.

Prep Term 2  

• 97% C and above English 70% A and B
• 90% C and above Maths

Year 3 Term 2

• 98% C and above English
• 95 % C and above Maths

Many other cohorts hit or were close to the regional target of 85% C and above. Year 1 and Year 5 reached 85%. Fantastic effort! We know not just as a school but as a community we want successful learners and we know that reaching a C will open the opportunity to access the curriculum and continue to move forward and improve academically. We are very proud of our recent achievements.

This term we will focus sharply on the goals around the next steps in learning. A recent professional development opportunity reminded me of three very important principals being: Know the next steps in learning, Know where students are in their learning and Know students and how they learn. Curriculum, learning and the learner will certainly be a priority aligned to Equity and Excellence this semester.

Staff are providing great feedback around the familiarisation of the Version 9 Australian Curriculum and this term all cohorts will be writing persuasively and presenting their work to an audience. A day of curriculum planning for teachers and regular weekly conversations allows our students the best opportunity to move forward in their learning.

Health Wellbeing Safety HWS team

This term we are formulating our school Wellbeing action plan for 2024/2025. We have used whole staff data to identify areas we have grown in and areas that require improvement. The steering group developing this plan is using the staff voice around three key areas to align to “Occupational Wellbeing”. Our school is committed to reducing staff workload and we are working with the regional wellbeing coordinator to support our work along the way. We have set aside fortnightly staff meetings to engage in this important work.

A wellbeing action plan and focus on wellbeing is designed to improve staff health as well as foster a healthier workplace culture.

Principal

Welcome back to Term 3! Crazy that we are more than half way through Prep, students have learnt so much and have settled into school routines well. We have started the term off with reminders of Smiley Badge expectations at Bowen State School and ensuring all students can learn to their potential.

In Week 1 of this term, we celebrated 100 Days of Prep, with 100 Days brighter. Students got to paint a ‘100 gum balls’ with their Year 6 buddies and we had lots of other fun with the Prep cohort during the day with balloons, painting, biscuit decorating and more.

This term students are learning about shapes, length and numbers in math, and retelling an event as a presentation in English. Show and Share links to English this term so feel free to bring in things that connect to each week (see note sent home) for your child to share with the class and practise presenting.

The secret’s out in 1M this term…School is actually FUN!!!  We’ve been having a blast playing various party games and using them as platforms to extend our procedural recount and persuasive presentation skills.  We are currently practicing to tell other’s how to play a game and then to convince them to play it.  Apologies now for the incredible persuasive vocab the children are beginning to use!  I’ve no doubt you’ll be easily talked into ice cream for tea without even noticing!!

This term Year 2 are measuring the length, capacity and mass of objects. We started by measuring the length of objects we found in our classroom. We needed to ensure we had no gaps, no overlaps, we used the same unit of measure and we started at the beginning of the object. We will need to practice more measuring over the next few weeks.

In the lead up to our NAIDOC celebrations 6S has been busy creating a deadly door and have enjoyed spending time with their Prep buddies celebrating 100 days of Prep.

Term 3 Mrs Selina Power our Transition Officer and myself Guidance Officer, Mrs Danielle Upkett make up your Student Services team.  We are currently in the recruiting process for a Chaplain, so watch this space.  You will see us around the school supporting student engagement in a range of ways:

• Lunch program: fruit and sandwiches to support those in need of a top up to stay focussed for the school day supported by our P and C.
• Social Emotional Support: Connection / check ins on the parade grounds before school and at play times.
• Referrals: Working with other agencies and families to best support our students.
• Attendance: work with students, staff and families to plan for maximising days of learning.
• Engagement: our work is often referred from our Student Engagement Hub (SEH) Team meetings. We work closely with Mr Shaw our Head of Inclusion (HOI) and all staff to best support our kids academic and social emotional learning.   

We look forward to seeing you and your children around the school and at school events.