Prep Family Transitions

This week we started our Prep Transition Program for 2025. 50 families and children enjoyed an afternoon of making music with the Principal, we met in a Prep classroom and engaged in a range of activities to support family connection, use gross and fine motor skills and practice following instructions in an age-appropriate space. Thank you to all of the families and children who supported this great event and we look forward to the future fortnightly visits. We know that a successful transition to school is a journey and regular visits for families and children transitioning to school get a great start to their 2025 Prep year. 

This year we are starting a new initiative to engage with our local Kindy’s. We will be sending our Prep teachers into the various settings to continue to foster relationships with incoming children who will be attending Prep at Bowen State School. This will strengthen bonds with staff and provide opportunity to build the knowledge about individual students so that we are ready to best support a successful transition.

If you your child is Prep age and will be attending Prep in 2025 we welcome new enrolments and have information packs in our school office regarding our school and the transition schedule.

Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) Engagement

A huge shout out to our hard-working P&C team. Jenna Hopwood (President) Adina Lacey (Vice president) Lisa Flowers (Treasurer) and Emma Altmann (Secretary) for their smooth running of the Book Fair recently which raised $5,300 in sales. Our school received $1,600 in rewards to spend on books or cash credit back to class room teachers to purchase a resource for their room. There have been positive meetings to plan some upcoming events for our school including a disco and a Father’s Day stall.

If you would like to come along and attend the monthly meetings, please check out our school Facebook page for more information. As a Principal I value the role of a school P&C and the importance that the parent body has an avenue for feedback and thoughts around the happenings in our great school.

Principal

Challenge Games

Last week, a group of students, staff and families travelled to Townsville for a 3-day Challenge Games adventure. Students took part in a range of sporting activities over the two-day carnival demonstrating and developing sporting skills but also building friendships with students from all over the state. Congratulations to all students that attended and represented our school beautifully displaying our school values across all three days of the camp. Thanks to the Rachel Weekes and Nicole Brown for attending the camp and ensuring all students had the time of their lives! 

Finally, thank you to the Bowen State School community for supporting the 2024 Challenge Games. The following organisations were big supporters of our adventure: Industry Fire Services, Abbot Point Operations, Hillery Group, Snell's Electrical and Quality Cabinets. Without your support experiences like the Challenge Games simply would not be possible. Thank you as well to them organisations and families that supported our Challenge Games Raffle and of course congratulations to the lucky winners!

National Consistent Collection of Data

The National Consistent Collection of Data on school students with disability (NCCD) is an annual data collection that must, by law, be completed by every school in Australia in August each year.  The aim of the NCCD is to provide governments with information about the number of students with disability in Australian schools as well as the types and levels of adjustments they need in order to access, engage and achieve success in education. From 2018, the NCCD has been used by the Australian Government to inform funding for schools. If your child is receiving any adjustments for their learning based on a disability (diagnosed or undiagnosed), they will be included in this year’s NCCD submission. For further information about the NCCD, please see the attached flyer or contact Ethan Shaw.

Ethan Shaw

Head of Special Education Services (HoSES)

Prep D have been learning about 2D shapes. We have been exploring their attributes and have discovered the difference between curved and straight lines. We counted the sides and corners of shapes and sorted them into groups. We have been on a ‘Shape Hunt’ throughout the school where we discovered so many 2D shapes in our environment! Prep D have also used 2D shapes to create funny looking ‘Shape Monsters’.

In English this term, 1C have been learning how to create and present a short-spoken text to recount a procedure.  This has involved the students playing a variety of games to include the Egg and Spoon Race, Hop Scotch, Duck Duck Goose, and Tiger Cheetah Monkey.  The students are required to logically sequence the steps of how to play the game, including detailing the equipment required to play the game and how to win the game.  The children have also enjoyed learning oral language skills to including using a clear voice, using tone and intonation when speaking, along with how to use hand gestures.  Furthermore, the children have been learning how to use ‘power words’ to convince their peers to play their game.  We look forward to hearing each student present their oral to the class later this term.

This term 4T has been learning all about sustainability. This week we emptied out a big bag of textile scraps that were heading to landfill and our class brainstormed ideas of things we could make with the scraps instead. Lots of students in the class have dogs so we made dog toys by plaiting the fabric strips together. Some students made headbands and one group of students made a hanging garland for our classroom that looks very festive.

Please keep Wednesday 4^th September evening free as the instrumental music students will be presenting a “Spring Concert” at McKenna Hall. This will be similar to the combined concert we had in Term 2 before Fanfare. This is a chance for the concert band to practice their performance skills in front of an appreciative audience of family and friends. More details will be sent out as the concert date gets closer.

With this upcoming performance in mind, please remind all instrumental music students to bring their instruments and music to school every Thursday. All instrumental music students (including the 2024 beginners) should now be attending band practice at first break EVERY Thursday.

Amanda Mattiske

Instrumental Music Teacher