Bowen State School eNewsletter

Welcome to Mr Jeremy Callaghan

This week I would like to announce the great news that we have appointed a permanent Deputy Principal to the school Mr Jeremy Callaghan. We welcome him and his wife Laura to our community and great school. Mr Callaghan is very excited about coming to Bowen and the future in our school. We will be arranging a time this term to visit the community and will share this date shortly. I’m sure everyone will make Jeremy feel very welcome and part of our community upon his arrival and commencement at the beginning of 2020.

Transition to school Professional Development

Last Wednesday evening members of the staff attended a fantastic evening of professional learning around the space of transition to school. During the evening staff had the opportunity to hear the important facts and information around successful transitions. We learnt the importance of what a transition means to all of us and what that looks like and feels like for our little people as they move from one space to another. What I learnt from the evening is the importance of connections with families and relationships to support students and families from the transition from “outside the gate” to “inside the gate”. We want happy, resilient, confident and successful learners at Bowen State School. A great evening and lots of capacity building for all. Big thank you to Karen Weekes who brought this great learning opportunity to our early year’s network.

2019 School Opinion Survey

Last week the 2019 School opinion Survey data was released to all Queensland schools. I believe this data provides a great opportunity for reflection and planning for the future. We noted as a staff the huge growth in parent satisfaction around behaviour and how it is managed at our school. This data suggests that parents value the whole school approach to the positive support offered to explicitly teach the behaviour expectations at our school. This information supports staff in understanding the importance to continue Positive Behaviour For Learning PBL. Fantastic additions to our school this year (coloured post pads) have concreted the whole school culture and visual reminders for students every day.

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

Moving to Bowen!

It is with great excitement that I have been given the opportunity to relocate to Bowen State School in 2020, as Deputy Principal. My teaching career has lead me in many directions, having experienced teaching primary in New Zealand, Mathematics at Blackwater State High School, and most recently, Head of Curriculum at Middlemount Community School. My wife Laura and I are very excited to be moving to Bowen, as we have developed a love for North Queensland, having recently been married at Fitzroy Island. I look forward to joining the Bowen community and meeting you all in the near future.

A huge thank-you to Michelle and Belinda from Stackelroth Farms for supplying our School with a heap of pumpkins which our talented staff decorated ready for tonights Halloween Disco.

We hope to see everyone at the Disco tonight

Week 3

Jeliane Delit, Evie Taylor, Darci Menzies, Riley Horstman, Alkira Barry, Anthony Wallace, Trinity Blake, Samuel Hammond, John Amaro-Bishop, Isla Cristaudo, Kasey Holt, Carter Brackley, Ella Scotton

Week 4

Molly Taylor, Xavier Lorraway, Phoenix Leapai, Zane Silver, Valea Midolo, Chris Ayres, Aaron Teale, Jarius Tobane, Kalyb White, Phoebe Smith, Bodhi Maher, Bridie Glazebrook, Charlotte Hemmings, Mia Martin, Blake Masters

Prep A

This Term we are learning to write a letter to a character in a story. We recently went on an excursion to the Post Office so we could learn about how to send a letter and where they go, it was so much fun! Now that we are Post Office experts, we have created our own Post Office in our Class. Our Class Learning Wall shows each step of our learning journey.

1a

In Maths lessons this term 1A have been learning to find half of a collection by splitting a group into two equal parts. Last week we tried to find a half of a group of students from our class. Half of the group had to touch their toes and the other half put their hands in the air. It looks like we will do well in our assessment this week! We have also being trying a new activity called ‘Number Time’. We love learning new addition and subtraction strategies in these lessons while playing games with cards and dice.

2A

This term, 2A have been growing a variety of different plants. In Science, students have been growing sunflowers with the aim of testing which type of soil is the most effective and for growing sunflowers. We have also begun to grow the Woolworth Discovery plants.

4A

Students in Year 4 are studying life cycles of endangered animals and actions that can be taken to protect the species. Justin Forrester the manager at Coral Coast Barramundi shared his expertise on barramundi and the steps the government has taken to ensure sustainability. Students enjoyed the question time with Justin and being able to understand the importance of habitats to the barramundi.

3A

We enjoyed a visit from Healthy Harold and the Life Education van. We learnt about kids Helpline, helping friends and others, people changing, food choices, medicines and keeping active.

6A

Explain Yourself!
It's not enough for students to simply show their working in Mathematics these days. To ensure they have true understanding of what is happening to numbers as they manipulate them or solve problems, they need to be able to explain their thinking. This helps to consolidate their knowledge, and allows teachers to pick up any misconceptions that need correcting. Peer tutoring is a great way to practise this important skill.

We are very excited to announce that Bowen State School will be hosting a whole school swimming carnival this year. The day will consist of two sessions (morning and afternoon). The morning session will be for students in Prep-Year 2 and the afternoon session will be for students in Years 3-6. Transportation will be provided to and from school so students will not need to be dropped off at the pool this year. This event will take place on Friday November 22nd 2019 (Week 7). Notes will be send out closer to the date with more information. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Instrumental Music Workshop

On Thursday, November 7th at the Bowen State School, an instrumental workshop will be conducted by Mr Osman involving students from Bowen State School, Queens Beach State School and Merinda State School. During the day, students will work together on music to perform at a short concert at the end of the workshop.
Concert: 1:50pm-2:15pm. In the Poole Street Hall. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO COME AND LISTEN.

It will be a great day for all instrumental students to socialise with other like-minded students and build performance capabilities.

Upcoming Performance

This presentation is a fun, hands-on exploration into the science of Chemistry, Biology and Physics presented by Jared Morgan. He combines his passion for science with his stage and comedy skills to present an engaging look at the theory of the atom, an experiment on natural selection and a demonstration of Newton’s laws of motion with rocket racing. The language of science is introduced to the students in an entertaining and memorable way. All students are invited to attend this education show.

When: Tuesday 12th November
Where: Poole Street Hall
Cost: $5 per student