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Day 8 Change
Commencing the 2021 school term we have experienced some positive growth in our Early Year’s classes. The admin team have been closely monitoring the growth particularly in Year 2. Now the 8th day of school has passed we are able to account for all our children and make adjustments if required. After considering all options, we have made the decision to create a Year 1/2 composite, which will result in all of our early year’s classes having numbers lower than the recommended 25 students per class. Mrs Laurel Insch will be the teacher of this new class. On Wednesday new students moved into the room and have settled in very well. Thank you to the parents for your support with this change and looking forward to great outcomes from all our Year 1 and Year 2 students this year.
Leadership Parade
On Friday morning we acknowledged the tremendous achievements of all our new school leaders and held the official ceremony of induction to their new roles. The morning was attended by many special guests including the Mayor. Families of selected students enjoyed a special VIP Morning Tea after the event. Can I congratulate students on their extemporary behaviour during the event. This parade is a tradition at our school and instils the pride and determination of our applicants each year. Well done and congratulations!
Classroom Walk throughs and observations
From the beginning of the year staff have been engaging in weekly professional development aligned to the school strategic direction in improving outcomes for all students in Reading and Writing. We have placed a huge focus around building teacher capacity to create the “expert teaching team” and providing specific feedback to students.
As part of our action plan the leadership team have been conducting “classroom walkthroughs” into every classroom to view the visuals and posters aligned to Positive Behaviour for Learning PBL. We received positive feedback from the team from what they saw in classes around effective use of classroom visuals, positively stated classroom rules and classroom reward systems. We have seen a great lift in consistency across our school this year which is very pleasing. The leadership team are currently engaging in “classroom observations” in the delivery of the beginning of a lesson. Staff have been upskilled in the “Bowen Way” of explicit teaching around this. Staff and the leadership are working to an agreed template and check list of what we are looking to see as best practice. Teachers will receive individual feedback and their next steps in the teaching. This is a collaborative and positive process at Bowen State School to ensure a consistent approach to best practices in teaching. We want to design great teachers here at Bowen State!
Looking forward to sharing more great stories around the teaching and learning this term. Until next fortnight have a great couple of weeks.
Christien Payne
Principal
I believe in: Hard Work Honesty Transparency
Attendance
Currently our whole school attendance rate is sitting at just above 92%, a fraction below our target of 93%. Good news is that 293 of our students have not missed a day of school as of yet. What an amazing effort! Next week we will be awarding our first round of 100% attendees for the first 5 weeks of school. Hopefully the number of students with 100% is still just as impressive.
A massive shout out has to go to students from 6G in Mr Gulliver’s room. Last week they all managed to come to school every single day giving the whole class 100% attendance for the week. Well done!
6G showing off their 100% attendance for week 3
Stop, Drop and Go!
With the influx of recent complaints regarding parents/guardians using the stop, drop and go facility on Kennedy St inappropriately, here is a timely reminder of how to use this facility correctly and respectfully.
In the morning
- Keep left while queuing for Stop, Drop & Go.
- Stay in your car (this maintains a steady flow of traffic).
- Children must exit cars from the curb side only.
- Store your child’s bag inside your car; no-one should open boots at the drop zone.
- Give way when exiting the drop zone as cars may be circling.
In the Afternoon
- Your child waits under the shaded tree next to the entrance to the school. As you approach, your child will make his/her way to the car for a quick exit.
- Delay your arrival to minimise traffic congestion.
- Keep left while queuing for Stop, Drop & Go.
- Children enter cars from the curb side only.
- Store bags inside the car and not in the boot.
- You (the driver) must stay in your car.
- Give way when exiting Stop, Drop & Go as cars may be circling.
- If your child is not yet at Stop, Drop & Go, drive slowly on and circle the block to then re-join the que
- Do not double-park at any given point of time. This is an accident waiting to happen, especially with a number of buses using the same road.
Remember to be respectful and safe towards each other. Modelling these values to your children shouldn’t stop at the school gate.
We have had discussions with Bowen Police and they have committed to increasing their traffic patrols around BSS before and after school to monitor the situation. We hope this will ensure the safety of all of our students using this facility.
Jeremy Callaghan
Deputy Principal
Leadership Ceremony
Today we held our leadership ceremony to formally recognise our newly appointed school leaders for 2021 and celebrate with them and their families for their achievements.
The students that were recognised today have indicated their commitment to ‘Stepping up to the plate’ and challenging themselves in a role of leadership within our school and wider community. We acknowledge that without the support of the families of Bowen State School, this would not be possible. So thank-you to all of the families who are juggling their schedules, making the time to attend these school events, supporting students in attending extra-curricular activities and encouraging your child each and every day.
Congratulations to all our Student Leaders of 2021
School Captains & Vice Captains
House Captains
Cultural Leaders
Environment Team Leaders
Year 4 Student Council Representatives
Year 5 - Student Council Representatives
Year 6 - Student Council Representatives
Prep J
During the past few weeks in Prep J, we have been reading a range of different stories and learning to identify the main character and events in those stories. Students in Prep J are becoming confident in recognising and performing the SSP monster sounds. We are also learning to Subitise – the ability to recognise quantities at a glance. Children have been at work in small groups working with dominos, dice, counters and playing bingo to become ‘Super Subitiser’s’.
2 D/G
2D/G started the year by reading George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl in English. In the story, George makes a disgusting medicine for his horrible grandma. The year 2’s have begun to create a multimodal procedure which includes writing their own disgusting recipes for grandma. Students type up their recipes on laptops and include pictures of their ingredients. Finally, students will present their disgusting recipes to the class.
5J
The past few weeks, students have been studying the Fantasy novel Forests of Silence by Emily Rodda. They have been working hard and analysing how characters are portrayed and develop as they face dilemmas. Students will be writing a chapter of their own towards the end of the term. Keep up the great work 5J!
Curriculum News
Classrooms have been very busy with students learning about new routines, transitions and expectations. They have settled into their new classes and are engaging with the Australian Curriculum. Students are given opportunities to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and skills in each of the following key learning areas.
Writing
Improving writing for all students is one of our priorities in our Annual Implementation Plan. Here are some great examples of Week 4 writing from around the school.
Sports Report
What a start to our Cross Country training sessions it’s been! 57 students on Monday and 67 on Wednesday. The warm starts this week certainly haven’t put anyone off! It was great to see some staff members join in for a run and also a couple of parents!! If you’d like to join in feel free. Just a reminder that you do need to have a current Blue Card to join in. Sessions will continue every Monday and Wednesday at 8am up until our cross country event which is now on Monday 22nd March.
Sub District Trials
Notices will be coming home or on the Facebook page in regards to our sub district trials starting in the next couple of weeks. Keep your eyes out for these.
Basketball Excellence Program
This interest in this program has been amazing. We currently have 35 grade 6’s who are keen to be a part of it and over 40 grade 5’s. This obviously creates some challenges in how we can implement this with such large numbers (a great problem to have). We will keep the students and parents notified on how this will work moving forward.
Swimming
Grade 1, 2, 3 and 4 students have started their swimming program, so please remember swimming gear on your appropriate day. If you are able to help out at swimming we would still really appreciate any parent helpers, so if you are able to help out please let me or the school know. You can email me on lrdun2@eq.edu.au. Please note you must hold a Blue Card to be able to help.
Juggling Club
Something else that will start at Bowen State School this year will be a juggling club. Mr. Payne and myself have been discussing and working out how this will look in 2021. We have many students who have shown interest and promises to be an exciting program for our students. Watch this space for more information and details on how this will look!
Have a great week everyone
Leigh Dunn
HPE Teacher