Bowen State School eNewsletter

NAPLAN feedback

I would like to congratulate the students and staff of the Yr 3 and Yr 5 cohort for the growth within Writing. We recently received some preliminary results and noted the Yr 3 data holding and great improvement in Yr 5. This one point in time testing provides another piece of evidence to align our Level of Achievement data and triangulate the results. As a community we want successful and happy learners. Our job now is to use the feedback from NAPLAN to help guide our schools next steps in the teaching and learning. There is no question in the fact that an expert teaching team, deep understanding of the Australian curriculum and effective teaching practices will support our journey.

In 2020, nationally, schools will be completing NAPLAN online. Staff conducted some cluster Professional Development this week to provide understanding to what the platform will look like for students. We understand that it is important that all our staff focus on the technology demands within the curriculum and that we provide regular opportunities to access digital technology to draft, plan and write their work. In term 4 our Yr 2 and 4 students will have an opportunity to experiment in this space, access the portal and play in a training environment. Over the course of the year I will share more information about NAPLAN online and some useful links to access.

Support Staff Day

This Friday we celebrate Support Staff Day. An opportunity to acknowledge the tireless efforts of our teacher Aides each and every day. As a classroom teacher for 20 years prior to becoming a principal I know that I couldn’t do my job without their extra hands and support in the classroom. On Friday we will be hosting a shared morning tea to acknowledge these great people in our school. I will look forward to sharing with the support staff my gratitude and great respect for them in our school. Could I ask families to join with me on Friday and pass on the message as you see the Teacher Aides around during the day.

Looking forward to sharing more great news stories for the fortnight. Until then have a great couple of weeks.

What I Believe in

Hard Work

Honesty

Transparency

1000 Hours

By law, children need to receive 1000 hours of supervision per year. Instruction starts at 8:50 am and your child needs to be here ready to start work at that time, not 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes later. Those early minutes at the start of the day could include important knowledge that your child may need for the rest of their lives, how are you going to ensure they don’t miss out because they were late to school?

If your child arrives after the teacher has marked the roll, that is counted as an absence and if you do not provide a reason for their lateness then it is marked as an unexplained absence. Students also need to go to the school office to collect a late slip before going to their classroom.

Support Staff

I also want to acknowledge the vital contributions all of our wonderful support staff make to our school. Our school is like a village and for it to grow and prosper we need every member to work together and believe me without our staff, such as our cleaners, road crossing supervisors, groundsman, teacher aides and office staff, our school could not function as well as it does. Thank you.

Fancy_Dress_program.pdf

Fancy_Dress_program _pdf 315.50 KB

	Week 7
PA	Kai Kreymborg
PB	Taylor Ericksen
1A	Seleena Murdock
1/2B	Mersaydee Muscat
2A	Blake Bickey
2C	Jharal Archibald
3A	Molly Jackson
3B	Jacob Batman
3C	Oscar Gregory
4A	Mark Thompson
4B	Alex Thomas
4/5C	Benjamin Smalley
5B	Kai Hatherall
5/6C	Tiansheng Ma
6A	Kalvin Watson
6B	Sila Kaho

	Week 8
PA	Kai Kreymborg
PB	Amelia Williams
Prep/1C	Felicity Gorham
1A	Shadayai Anthony
1/2B	Bo Wen Zhao
3A	Deezal Tremain
3B	Korbin-Dallas Ashlin
3C	James Knight
4A	Stephanie Porter
4B	Lateisha Gregory
4/5C	Rebecca Daniel
5B	Archer Ryan
5/6C	James Madlangsakay
6A	Zaine Mason

1A

Year 1 children are learning how to write a retell of a cultural story and illustrate their written work. Pictured here are two retells of ‘How the kangaroos got their tails’. We also practised drawing kangaroos.

2A

2A have started learning about multiplication related arrays and equal groups in maths. We are been using hands on manipulatives to assist us in learning all about these new concepts. Learning how to draw and recognise arrays and equal groups will help us understand what multiplication and division means in real life. We have also been learning about 3 digit numbers and place value and how to plot 3 digit numbers on number lines.

3A

3A got a very special visitor this week. This is Molly the dog. We read to her with great fluency, pace, pitch and volume. Molly will come back later in the week and check in with us to see how our narrative writing is going.

4A

Students in 4A recently enjoyed hosting a class theatre. Two students, Seneca Bickey and Tynan Andersen were chosen to paint wonderful backdrops for the theatre and they excelled.

Other students took turns at comparing, adjudicating, presenting in character and videoing.

Everyone had great fun hearing stories about child convicts and harsh, trying conditions they experienced back in 1788.

5A

Students have been reading the poem, “Fur and Feathers” by AB Paterson. They have transformed the narrative poem into a digital multimodal narrative that includes ideas from the poem. To go with the poem the students have drawn kangaroos and emus for art.

6A

Preparations for Year 6 Graduation are well underway, and last week students in 6A enjoyed assisting staff to package Rocky Road orders. With the end of primary school in sight, it is timely that students are writing a letter about their time at school in English. This has allowed them to reflect on the years they have spent at Bowen State School, and how this has made them who they are today. As first day of school photos continue to roll in, there has been a lot of reminiscing going on. Information about graduation will be sent home soon.

Attendance.pdf

Attendance _pdf 251.00 KB

Week eight is that time of the term where most students experience higher stress. We are working hard completing assessment in a range of key learning areas and practising for fancy dress. It’s the time where fatigue can set in.

I’d like to share the power of positive touch (hug, high five, wrestling, pat on the shoulder, back rub, holding hands etc.) has on helping our bodies stay health.

Positive touch stimulates pressure receptors under our skin and decreases heart rate, slows breathing, reduces stress hormones and boosts our immune system.

Are our kids getting enough positive touch? A minimum of eight touches a day are needed to assist kids to reduce stress and to feel connected. If kids are going through a challenging time that increases to 12 times a day.

Take up the positive touch challenge at home, I know I’m going to increase the high fives and pats on the shoulder.

ICAS Testing

The first 2 rounds of ICAS testing started this week. Students from Years 2-6 participated in Digital Technologies and Science. This is the first year that the testing has been conducted online. Students were very engaged and put lots of effort into these sessions. Our school will share these results as soon as they become available.