Assessment and Reporting

This week, students commenced the assessment component of their learning for this term. This work will be undertaken over the next two weeks. It is an important time to gather independent knowledge and understanding of the units completed and to provide teachers with data to finalise the Semester 2 report cards. This can be an additional cognitive challenge for some students, so it is important that parents are aware and ready to support them from home as we make adjustments here at school. Some considerations during this time could be:

• Have a conversation about any concerns and challenges if your child expresses worry, and discuss these as a family.
• Ensure students are getting the appropriate amount of sleep and are well-rested for school.
• Encourage consistent routines, including a healthy lunch, breakfast, and plenty of water.
• Take time for mindfulness and reflection on the hard work completed at school. For example, a scooter or bike ride in the park, a walk on the beach, or choosing and negotiating something special as a reward.
• Allow for quiet downtime.

As we enter the final stretch of a long 11-week term, the hot weather and fatigue can take their toll on children. We all need to dig a little deeper to support a strong and successful end to the term. Thank you for your ongoing support. Our school staff are ready to assist if needed.

Colour Run Success

I would like to thank the staff and students for your wonderful participation and engagement in the annual school fun run. We have raised over $20,000, which is incredible! This event brought us together as a community and provided a fantastic experience for both new and existing families. I would also like to thank those involved in the organisation and preparation for this event, as well as the support from the school’s P&C. A special thank you goes to the Bowen Fire Brigade for their fun and spirited water splashing on the students. We greatly appreciate their time and contribution to making this event memorable.

All funds raised will go directly into projects at our school, supporting our students and enhancing their learning environment.

We have reached the half way mark of Term 4. The weather is heating up and we are excited about the end of year events coming up. 

2025 Student Leaders

The 2025 Student Leaders selection process began this week. Year 5 students, wanting to be a student leader in 2025 received an application document. 

Key dates:

Monday 11th November, 9am – written applications handed to the office close.

Leadership team will review cultural and sports captains applications.

Wednesday 13th November – school captain applicants will be interviewed. School captain applicants will be short listed.

Monday 18th November, 9am – Short listed school captain applicants will deliver a 3-5 minutes speech to Year 4 and 5 students. Staff and students will vote.

Friday 29th November – 2025 school, cultural and sports captains will be announced at the whole school Awards Ceremony.

Year 6 Graduation Update

Year 6 Graduation information.

Date- Wednesday, 4th December, 2024

Time- 6pm to 8pm

Where- Bowen State School - Poole Street Hall

Graduating students are able to invite 2 guests only.

Cost- $25 per person attending. Payment can be made by EFTPOS (at the school office) or direct deposit to BSS P&C.

Parents are asked to please email a baby photo and a Prep photo to their child’s teacher as soon as possible.

Mrs Henaway – 6H - lhena8@eq.edu.au

Mrs Merrypor – 6M smerr40@eq.edu.au

Ms Shannon – 6S hesha0@eq.edu.au

Subject heading ‘STUDENT NAME – Baby and Prep Photo’.

Whole School Awards Ceremony

Our 2024 Bowen State School Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday, 29^th November, starting at 9am in the Poole Street Hall. Families are welcome to attend to help us celebrate students’ achievements.

Student Council

The Student Council raised $402 from the entry to the school disco held recently. Thank you to those parents who volunteered and a massive thank you to staff who supported on the night. Our target is $1000 to get cold bubblers in the Poole St Hall.

Karen Weekes

Deputy Principal

This term in Maths, Prep D have been practising their number partitioning skills! We have been using hands on materials to partition the number 10 into parts and writing the numbers that we make. We can partition the number 10 into 2 parts and 3 parts. Some of us can even partition the number 10 into 4 or more parts!

Year 1C have been highly engaged in their Science unit or work this term. The students have been learning about changes in the sky and landscape. Over the course of the term, the children have learnt about objects and events that occur in the day time and night time sky. Furthermore, the children have been learning to describe changes in their local environment, which have occurred over time. The children have also been learning about natural, constructed and managed features in local environments.

When asked to describe the changes that could occur in your sky and landscape over a short time from day to night, the children have provided the following responses;

Isla – You can see birds in the sky, clouds, rainbows, the sun too. It is very hot in the day time. At night time, the sky becomes dark and the sun goes down and the moon pops up. You can see stars at night time too.

Michael – You can play soccer in the day time but at night time, you cannot play soccer because it would be too hard to see the ball.

Leo – At night time, the moths come out because they like to fly towards the lights in my house. Sometimes we turn off the lights to save electricity.

Savannah – In the day time you can see everything clearly. At night time, it is very hard to see. In the day time, you can see lots of clouds and they move and can make lots of different shapes.

On Wednesday, October 23rd, 25 enthusiastic Year 3 and Year 4 students from Bowen State participated in the Bebras Challenge, organised by Mrs. Radcliffe’s lunchtime Coding Club. The students were eager to dive in and tackle a range of engaging problems designed to test their computational thinking, coding skills, and problem-solving abilities.

Round 2 of the Bebras Challenge is a fun, free competition that encourages students to enhance their problem-solving skills through a variety of challenges. Leading up to the event, participants had been honing their abilities through various activities on the computers during their playtime.

A big congratulations to all the students for their hard work and dedication in preparing for this challenge! Each student achieved certificates recognising their efforts and participation. Bebras is an international initiative, attracting over 2.9 million students from across 60 countries, making it a fantastic opportunity for our young learners to connect with peers globally. Keep up the great work!