Term 3 2023
From the Acting Principal/Deputy’s Desk
Year 3 - 6 Beach Camp 2023
The Year 3-6 Beach Camp took place from 7th to 11th August, and we are pleased to report it was an outstanding success! Set against the backdrop of an excellent location, the program was designed to provide our students with a perfect blend of learning, adventure, and teamwork, and it certainly exceeded our expectations.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this camp was the conduct of our students. Their behaviour was nothing short of exemplary, showcasing impeccable manners, enthusiasm, and an unwavering willingness to participate in various activities. We couldn't be prouder of the way they represented our school, both in character and spirit.
We must also acknowledge the exceptional work of our staff. Their collaboration and efforts played a significant role in the success of this camp. They went above and beyond to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and growth of our students, and their dedication did not go unnoticed.
We are excited to share that plans are already underway for another event at the same location, scheduled for Term 3 in 2026. We are confident that this future adventure will build upon the successes of this camp and create even more unforgettable memories for our students.
The ongoing support, provided through the CSDE P&C, has been instrumental in making these valuable experiences possible for our students. The incredibly generous donation from the P&C, helped reduce the student costs and ensured that we could offer our students enriching opportunities for growth and learning.
We are also looking forward to the possibility of having Morven State School join us for future camps. Planning for our 2024 Brisbane camp is underway.
WA Multischool – Term 4 Week 3
We're eagerly anticipating our Multischool event, where secondary students from LSODE, MISOTA, and CSDE come together for a week of learning and growth. This biannual gathering in Longreach, occurring in late Term 1 and early Term 4, allows students to connect, participate in curriculum enrichment activities, and build positive relationships in a face-to-face environment. There will be no online lessons during this week.
WA Outreach Days – Term 4 Week 3
This year marks our first Western Alliance Outreach Days, designed to foster community and enhance academic engagement for secondary students in the Southeast corner. These events address challenges posed by limited in-person learning and reduced social interactions, offering opportunities for socialising, hands-on activities, and collaboration. We also prioritize students' well-being through team-building sessions to empower them to develop skills, establish connections, and build confidence. Our goal is to support their academic progress, personal growth, and overall educational experience, enabling success in distance learning.
CSDE Minischool
The countdown has officially begun for our upcoming primary Minischool! With this year's theme, "Safe Summer Fun," we are looking forward to engaging activities, enriching educational experiences, and plenty of excitement for our students as they work with both their classmates and teachers. Our students will have the opportunity to participate in swimming lessons and explore Charleville locations that keep us safe. We are confident that students will have an enjoyable week!
2024 Student Leadership Program and Speeches
As we set our sights on the upcoming year, our 2024 Student Leadership Program is already in full swing. I'm incredibly impressed with the level of engagement and enthusiasm our students have shown in this program. We eagerly anticipate the development of their leadership speeches, which they will proudly deliver to our school community in Term 4.
Kickstart 2024 – Term 1, Week 2
Thank you to all the parents who shared their valuable feedback about our Kickstart Conference. Your insights are highly appreciated, and we have carefully considered them as we work toward enhancing the event. We are excited to share the new layout for the Kickstart Conference in 2024, which we believe will reflect your input and provide an even more enriching experience. Stay tuned for event details, which will be shared in Term 4. Your participation and contributions are instrumental in making our conferences a success, and we look forward to your continued involvement.
Mrs Rickie Itzstein
Acting Deputy Principal
Head of Department: Primary Teaching and Learning
Cluster Muster Term 3
In Week 3 of this term, our teachers held Cluster Muster days in Charleville, Mitchell, Quilpie and St George. The theme of the day was to “Think, Create, and Innovate.” Students participated in a number of activities that challenged them to work together and be creative. A major task for the day was preparing a recording of a verse speaking piece to enter into the Charleville Preforming Arts Festival. Each Cluster was encouraged to put their spin on “When the teacher isn’t looking” by Kenn Nesbitt. All entries submitted reflected great participation and effort from all students. Other fun activities included Monster Art, making a bridge, innovating a game, and using household recyclable items to repurpose them. They were fully engaged in the day and teachers reported seeing some amazing moments of team work, respect and encouragement.
Author in Residence Visit
This year’s author in residence is Andrew Plant. Andrew is an internationally published creator of picture books for children from preschool to secondary school. He loves stories that are unusual and challenging and look at the world from a different angle, and is passionate about encouraging children to fall in love with books and reading. He also designs and paints theatre sets and murals, and so rarely has a brush out of his hand. Andrew will be working with students from Years 1 to 6 on writing and illustrations.
Andrew moved onto sharing his passion for drawing animals and guided our students in creating some of their own. He showed a depth of knowledge about the creatures chosen by the students, by giving some insightful information into their formation. Andrew showed the link between using basic shapes and then coming back to add more detail to finish with an impressive drawing. Andrew was thoroughly impressed with the effort and commitment given by students. A wonderful experience enjoyed by all involved.
Music Club
This term students have been learning how to tune and play chords on the Ukulele. Some very popular songs have been practiced like "Dance Monkey", "Land Down Under" and "Riding Shotgun". The students who participated have shown tremendous growth and their perseverance is to be commended. Congratulations go to Toby, George, Chett, Katelyn, Olivia, Will, Sammy, Anabel, Hugh, Brodie, Hailey, Emily, Guthrie, Cailan, Erin and Gabby. Next term students will continue to add to the skills already learnt and welcome some new members.
Thank you to Buzz Music from Cairns and Mrs Scheerer with supporting this initiative. Your efforts are much appreciated by the students.
Staff Collaboration Days
This term, the primary staff have engaged in two staff collaboration days. These days provide an opportunity for staff to collaborate with colleagues to plan for improving student outcomes. In Week 6 of this term, staff met to moderate student work from the first half of this term, share ideas around student engagement, and review student achievement data from Semester 1. Week 10, staff collaborated in preparation for next term. Teachers shared assessment tasks with colleagues and built an understanding of expectations in student work. As well as, considered strategies and adjustments that could be implemented to improve student outcomes.
Premier’s Reading Challenge
The Premier's Reading Challenge is an annual state-wide initiative for state and non-state schools and home-educated students up to Year 9, and children enrolled in an early childhood centre or program. The challenge is not a competition but aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read widely for pleasure and learning.
From Prep to Year 8, 3 students participated in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Congratulations to George, Jack, and Maggie on your efforts towards completing the challenge.
Head of Department: Secondary Teaching and Learning
Version 9 Curriculum
At the end of June 2023, the Minister announced that timelines for implementation of the Australian Curriculum Version 9 would be amended. The familiarisation period would be extended for 12 months, with schools required to implement the curriculum from the beginning of 2025. The implementation period will continue to be three years, with the expectation that all Queensland schools will be teaching all AC V9 learning areas by the end of 2027.
Charleville SDE is working with Mt Isa School of the Air and Longreach School of Distance Education to produce resources for the delivery of the updated curriculum as per the implementation schedules. The production of Individual Learning Materials will continue for P-6, however the use of online texts and other learning platforms will be utilised across subject areas for years 7-10.
Preparation for Senior Schooling and Pathways after Year 10
At the recent Western Alliance leadership meeting in Brisbane there was discussion around pathways for our secondary students post Year 10 as well as preparation for Senior Schooling for those students continuing with their education into Years 11 and 12. This discussion is now guiding our subject offering (particularly for Mathematics and English) into 2024 and beyond.
Upcoming Multischool and Outreach Days in Term 4
This Semester we are trialling Outreach Days in the South East corner in conjunction with our Term 4 Multischool. These outreach days will be held at Ipswich (Chuwar) on the 17th October and at Shorncliffe on the 18th of October, and will give students closer to the Eastern areas of Queensland an opportunity to attend a day of activities with their peers. Students will be participating in a Kayak adventure and a variety of games on these days.
Our usual Term 4 Multischool will go ahead in Longreach from the 16th – 10th October, with Charleville students travelling by coach to Longreach and back. This Semester the format of our Multischool will be different than previous Multischools as there will be a variety of curriculum based activities for students to complete during the week, but students will not necessarily be in their year level groups or completing lesson work as has previously been done. Instead students will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of individual and group curriculum extension activities as well as having the usual extra-curricular opportunities.
PLO Prattle
Another busy term for all. Lots of fun had by the Year 3-6’s with Beach Camp. eKindy students attended the school for Play Days with Jillian from Brisbane SDE, whilst the children were having fun with Jillian, I was able to take the mothers around the school to have a look and meet some of the staff so that when they start as Prep families next year it won’t be so daunting for them all.
Book week had some interesting characters running around the school.
Planning is underway for KSC 2024, a few changes to the set out for the days. Looking at how much to fit into such a short time and trying not to over whelm Home Tutors/Students/Staff, with lots of information.
At times children along with ourselves struggle with making mistakes and knowing it’s ok to make mistakes, this is how we learn.
Dr Justin Coulson – Published June 2023
Why children need to know it’s OK to make mistakes
You won't find a child more chuffed with themselves than a pre-schooler who is learning to write their own name. In the beginning they courageously create a jumble of mixed-up letters and backward S's to piece together the first iteration of what will become their signature. Very quickly those mistakes lead to mastery, and they're equipped with a skill they'll use hundreds of thousands of times throughout their life.
As our children grow, their fearlessness in the face of mistakes often gives way to paralysing fear of failure. They become less willing to take risks, try new things, and broaden their experience because of the risk of not getting it "right" straight away.
How do we help our kids overcome perfectionism, and make friends with mistakes again? Here are my top tips:
- Talk it through – Whether it’s learning to ride a bike or a writing a story, when your child shows reluctance to try before they start, ask them what they’re worried about. Give them the chance to share their fears and talk it through. Ask them, ‘What’s the worst thing that can happen?’ By putting words around their worst fear, it can help put it into context and minimise it so it seems smaller and easier to handle.
- Share your story – Younger children love to hear stories from their parents and trusted adults. Share a story with them of when you were scared, then tried, failed and learned something from making a mistake. You can make it funny to lighten the load and help diffuse their worry.
- Resilience – Making mistakes and learning from them, helps children build resilience which will stand them in good stead later in life. If they have tried, failed and then tried again, it helps them build confidence to tackle bigger, more daunting tasks down the track. Failure is not the enemy, it’s failure to try. Failure in fact, ironically, can build success. As the saying goes, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, then try and try again….’
- Reward the effort – If you have coached and coaxed your child into trying something new for the first time, or if they have worked hard to conquer their fear, then regardless of the outcome, let them know they are champs for trying. This way, the reward is linked, not to whether they failed or succeeded, but to the effort they made in the first place. Being a ‘doer’ with a positive ‘at least I tried’ attitude will help your child build a positive approach to tackling new activities and tasks later in life.
- Practice makes perfect – give your child plenty of opportunity to keep trying their chosen activity, whether they’ve taken up a new sport, musical instrument or hobby, or whether they’re plucking up courage to make new friends. Help them stay positive and celebrate their achievements and learnings with them along the way. Whether they tell you this or keep it to themselves, kids love it when their parents and carers are their support team (and they’ll remember it later too!)
Don’t forget to get your accommodation booked for the Swimming Carnival, Christmas Concert, Speech & Awards and Celebrations Dinner. The dates are Week 9 – Monday 27th November & Tuesday 28th November.
Enjoy the break and stay safe.
Cheers,
Helen Cook
Parent Liaison Officer
Partners in Learning
Term 3 has seen the introduction of Partners in Learning – Online, which has been well received across the three western SDEs. The ability to offer the workshop online has meant families who have previously been unable to attend face-to-face have equitable access to this fantastic resource.
Whilst the online option is a great accessible option for families, the face-to-face workshops are continuing to be run. The benefits of attending the face-to-face option include the ability to participate in deeper discussions about the content and things you are noticing or experiencing in your schoolrooms, greater opportunity to ask questions specific to your situation and of course a chance to get together with your fellow home tutors. We are afforded more time to be able to really dive in to the content, elaborate and go through more examples of practice. The next face-to-face workshop offering at CSDE is coming up in Week 3 next term (Tuesday 17and Wednesday 18 October), please see the attached flyer for more information.
This term I was also afforded the opportunity to go to Brisbane to address all of the SDE Principals and share the key messages of the Partners in Learning content and share some of your feedback. This was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate to leaders the benefits that home tutors can gain from attending these workshops.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions, that’s what I’m here for. The only silly question is the one you don’t ask.
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”
– Walt Disney
Michelle Sieber
Head of Department – Partners in Learning
Based at Longreach SDE
Available Monday – Thursday
Email: msieb4@eq.edu.au
Phone: (07) 4658 4220
Digital Discoveries
Congratulations Katelyn
This term Katelyn ran a Bridge Building Competition for our school as part of her involvement in the STEM Girl Power Initiative. Katelyn would like to thank all the students who attended her session and entered the competition and would like to announce the following winners:
Microsoft Office
All Education Queensland students have access to a free copy of Microsoft Office. Programs (or Apps) included in the suite are:
- Word – perfect for typing up stories and assignments
- Excel – an essential tool for Maths and Science to present and sort data
- Outlook – be able to send and receive emails to and from your teacher using your school account and have access to a calendar to keep track of all your due dates
- OneNote – the Desktop App which is preferred by our school for students to complete their work in
- PowerPoint – for making slideshows for presentations.
These programs are an essential part of learning through Distance Education and can be accessed using your student’s school email address at http://office.com.
Internet Advice
Need some advice on what is the best options for accessing the Internet? The Regional Tech Hub is available to give free advice on what is the best type of Internet for your area. Visit https://regionaltechhub.org.au/ for more information.
eSafety
Is your child being safe when they are online? Check out this video to learn more about you can ensure:
For more information visit the eSafety website at:
Need More Help?
Digital Learning Facilitator – Sam Owczarek: sowcz1@eq.edu.au or 07 4656 8915
For advice or help with using programs or tools (including QLearn, Microsoft Office and Class Collaborate).
Cluster Muster Term 3
Year 3-6 Beach Camp
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