August 2015

Newsletter Articles

Principal's Ponderings

What a wonderful Sports Muster we had last week.

Narungi and Kanyanna vying for points, encouraging each other and catching up with friends. Thank you to the staff who put time and effort into preparing and tidying up afterwards…fabulous teamwork with a smile!

Thank you to the parents for their most elegant morning tea and catering in the canteen. A hard act to follow at Swim Muster ladies (and gentlemen?).

Thank you to Craig and Katie Allen for the music for adults and children during Thursday evening. Your contribution of talent and time brought about much enjoyment and encouraged participation.

Staffing: We have welcomed Alex Kirby and Rachel Cooper as class teachers, Mandy Daws as SWD and Suzanne Parkinson commenced on the 17th August as year one teacher behind Gabby Wilkinson.

Management Meeting was a very successful day with information sharing and discussion about the following topics. You will receive the minutes in Notices for a full version of the meeting.

The following suggestions are being considered to further support the students in addressing the areas with issues and to use programs that have proven to be successful in Maths and English.

Primary Curriculum:

• We are attempting to align the science units for 2016
• CLC will eventually be replaced - waiting on the finalisation of curriculum
• Multilit – MiniLit and Reading Tutor are going well
• Unify is an extension program for years 4-6 and secondary students.
• Delivery 2016 – planning for:
  - Year 3 - 1 hour maths on-air. Looking at this as this is when new concepts can be introduced. Will need to look into staffing/timetabling. Considerations – Year 3 is still quite hands on. Some lessons may still need to be done with parent support due to the nature of the content.
  - Contact lessons will not be delivered to Year 3 classes to allow for maths lessons.
  - Prep - 30mins is not long enough – looking to extend the lesson time to 1 hour.
• Curriculum mapping documents – working to develop a bigger picture of the year -to go out in the initial pack. Possibly for presentation at KSC
• Looking to cut out 2 units in English and Maths – to allow room for incorporating Seven Steps in writing and Back to Front maths.
• Assessment tasks will be in all papers from next year. Across all year levels.

Future Camps:

• 2016 – Canberra and Snow (years 4-6 and Western Alliance) – Booked.
• Following camps to be booked:
  - 2017- Adventure Camp (years 3 – 6)
  - 2018 – Whitsundays (years 3 – 6)
  - 2019 – Sydney and Snow (years 4 -6 and Western Alliance)
  - Review next cycle in 2018

50th Anniversary 2016

• P&C are working on picture book
• Date Claimer – Sports Muster – 11th, 12th, 13th August 2016
• Committee to be formed – calling for members
• Suggested activities
  - Friday night – roll call/registration
  - Saturday – formal activities
  - Saturday night
  - Time capsule

Cluster Muster Feedback:

• To remain as one day event with predetermined days on the calendar
• eKindy and Secondary students to be included in the invitation and planning
• Venue by venue consideration as at the time of planning. E.g. Alternate Mitchell and Roma to combine numbers

Safe Schools Coalition:

This is a federally funded program – addressing bullying specifically homophobia and transphobia.

What it means for our school: professional learning for all staff, consultation and advice for specific issues and concerns, resources to support issues and concerns, knowing the correct language and ensuring that in our school there is understanding and no bullying of those who may be different.

An Australian Christian Lobby Queensland spokesperson has written to all member schools through the P&C and the Principal and associated supporter organisations with their concern around the resources and the messages that are in these resources. Each school will choose the resources that suit their students and situation. Therefore many of the resources are not suited for our school and would only ever be used in consultation with the parents concerned, the students and those involved in the issue.

NAPLAN 2015

Interesting results, while very good, we have some spikes and some dips. Parents should have received or will receive their student's results in the mail this week. There are many other tools that we use to measure how the students and the school are performing.

Replacement Telephones:

Our school telephones are reaching the end of their life. Replacement parts are difficult to source. There is no provision in the budget to replace these. Other SDEs are now asking families to purchase a suitable telephone on enrolment.

I have put off making the decision to ask families to purchase their own (when the old ones are gone) because of the rural drought conditions.

My proposal is to continue with the present system and when there are no phones left in the school, it becomes a requirement on enrolment to purchase a phone. Luke has indicated that this could be from the beginning of 2016.

Computer scheme:

I hope that all families have completed the survey sent out by Anton. There is no guarantee that this scheme will be funded or will be in place in the future. Anton is still collecting data. Longreach and Capricornia offer a computer rental scheme. CSDE did offer this at one time but ceased when time to replace/renew computers came up and we were told not to by the Department.

Concerns:

No costing on this scheme has been done.

Tech officer's role: need to be careful that the tech officer is able to maintain their own job role.

Wishing you all a wonderful month…until next time!

Jenny

From the Deputy's Desk

Congratulations to Narungi and Kanyanna house captains for the wonderful job they each did in organising their respective houses. The march past this year really went off with a bang and it was great to see so much team spirit on both sides. Congratulations to Narungi on taking out the RFDS Winning House Shield with a total of 2093 points. Kanyanna should also be proud of their efforts with a not too shabby total of 1931 points.

The following students are this year's age champions and should be commended on their efforts!

AGE GROUP	NAME
8 year girls	Lillie Brand	12 year girls	Charlotte Brand
8 year boys	Nathan Phillips	12 year boys	Ryhs Radel
9 year girls	Ellie Hoch	13 year girls	Savannah Blackett
9 year boys	Beau Campbell	13 year boys	Bill Brand
10 year girls	Jaye Radel	14 year girls	Riley Flynn
10 year boys	Logan Flynn	14 year boys	Cody Doyle
11 year girls	Millie Creagh	Open girls	Katy Parkinson
11 year boys	Jeremiah Diete	Open boys	Nil competitors

Several new records were also set. Congratulations to the following:

NAME	EVENT	RECORD
Lillie Brand	8 year girls – 800m	3.52.16
Nathan Phillips	8 year boys – 800m	3.43.18
Bill Brand	13 year boys - high jump	1.29m
Alice Sewell	13 year girls – shot put	6.57m
Reece Doyle	14 year boys – shot put	8.42m

Narungi and Kanyanna House Captains, Charlotte Brand and Millie Creagh catch their breath after the 800m races.

Camp

Students in years 3 and 4 will be off on their first ever camp later this month to CYC Burleigh. They will be in good company travelling with seasoned campers from years 5 and 6. They will be participating in a range of surf awareness and beach activities over the course of the five days. Thanks to the CSDE P&C for their contribution which has assisted students in being able to attend this camp. Thank you also to all who participated in the school fun run. Unfortunately the funds haven't as yet been finalised but I will advise you of how much money was raised by the students in the coming weeks.

As mentioned by Jenny in her report, planning for camps for 2016 and beyond is underway. Information for these upcoming camps will be shared with the whole school community at the start of each school year. 2016 promises to be a big camp with all students from CSDE years 4 – 6 and all students who are a part of the Western Alliance years 7 – 10 being invited.

I will be away on Long Service Leave for the final two weeks of this term. Alison Simmons will fill in behind me in week 9 and Brent Brown will take over the reins in week 10.

Until next time.
Cheers Kate

PLO Prattle

Congratulations to NARUNGI on a great win at Sports Muster, well done to Kanyanna on being fantastic opponents. It was lovely to be able to catch up with so many parents. The weather was kind to us this year which added to the wonderful time had by all.

At times we all have squabbles in the family, I don't think you would be normal if you didn't. Even in the animal world there can be a squabble or two.

GREAT WAYS TO MANAGE SIBLING SQUABBLES

Resolving conflict between siblings, between you and your children, or you and your partner requires skill, subtlety and self-control.

It means that you need to have a range of responses at your fingertips rather than just rely on one or two strategies.

Here are 5 emotionally-intelligent responses that you can call on to de-escalate family and sibling conflict:

1. Stay calm
   When emotions are charged in a group, the leader will be the person who stays calm. Families are no different. Emotions can be charged. This is the time for parents to stay calm. Use a low, 'Green' tone of voice when you talk with kids. Your calmness is essential to de-escalate anger.
2. Use open-ended questions
   Ask open-ended questions to encourage others to share their feelings about a situation. Say, "How can I help?" instead of "You seem angry". Children and young people are calmer when they are teaching or explaining rather than being patronised.
3. Hear the feeling rather than see the behaviour
   Empathise with children's feelings without accepting their behaviour. There is nothing better than being understood so when they are upset try statements like "You have every right to be angry about that." Avoid addressing the behaviour at this point. Choose a time when everyone is calm and ready to listen to talk about better ways of behaving.
4. Use selective listening
   In the heat of the moment children and young people, like parents, will often say things they don't mean. It's easy to respond to the heated "I hate you" or other insults while ignoring the original problem when a child yells "You never listen…." Try clarifying by saying, "It seems that the last time we spoke wasn't great for you." Show interest, take the wind from their sails by agreeing, and don't try to respond to everything someone says in anger.
5. Focus on facts, not emotions
   Many people (adults and children) don't respond well when they are second-guessed. "Why are you so angry?" invites the response "NO, I'm NOT!" Instead say, "What happened that caused you to be upset?" Be sure to compliment children when they resolve relationship problems calmly and control their own emotions, demonstrating the impact that their positive behaviour has had on you. Conversely, compliments such as - "Thanks guys for resolving this problem quickly and calmly. I appreciate it"- remind kids about the emotional impact their negative behaviour also has.

Michael Grose

I am off to Longreach next week for Multischool with the Secondary students from our school and some of our Home Tutors. This will be great time for me to see how Multischool works, so hopefully I will be able to answer some more questions when I return.

Cheers
Helen Cook

Curriculum Corner

It has been a while since I have done any updates on Curriculum, so here are a few things that I presented at the Management Meeting on the 12th August. If you find that you have any questions or would like to discuss any of the below, then please do not hesitate to contact me on 4656 8969 or zfarr21@eq.edu.au .

Spelling

Spelling units 1-8 have now been written. Current units will be slightly amended for 2016 to have consistency in formatting and to include spelling within context and Naplan exposure. Other changes will also include answers for "Explore List Word" activities. Otherwise, they will be very similar to this year. If you have any other feedback or suggestions, please send me an email.

Geography

Geography is being implemented for the first time this year. This means there is a high possibility of minor errors or issues. Whilst most feedback has been quite positive, there have also been some suggestions for improvements. If you have any feedback, please email it to me as all feedback and errors are reviewed and if necessary, sent to the writers.

Models of Delivery

2016 is our year for improvement! In reviewing our model of delivery, we have decided to make some changes for next year. These changes are:

1. Prep to have one hour for on-airs with contact lessons being fortnightly
2. Year Three to have Maths on-air which will mean a similar model to years 4-6 and no contact lessons.

Whilst we are still looking at how we can get this to work with timetables, staff and delivery, we are confident that this change will be beneficial for all students involved for a range of reasons including (but not limited to) more engagement, differentiation and adjustments, specific content focus and implementation of other evidenced based practises.

Unit Schedules

I am currently in the process of writing unit schedules for 2016 with a view to changing the way units are presented. This year, the other SDEs trialled aligning the Science, History and Geography units so that students were all doing the same Science concept at the same time, or doing Geography at the same time for example. This has worked quite well so we are looking at doing the same next year. Whilst it will mean that units won't be neatly presented in order, it is anticipated that this will greatly assist multi-age classrooms by being able to all look at Biological Sciences together, or Earth and Space together. So, watch this space and I will do my very best to ensure a smooth change and an easier run in the schoolroom!

MultiLit – Reading Tutor Program & MiniLit

Our Reading Tutor Program has been running for about a term now and looking at the data (see below), it seems as though it has been very successful for a number of students. Whilst these children still have a way to go, they should be congratulated on their effort and we as a school should definitely celebrate their success!

When we started the program, it was very clear that this would not work for every student. We were also warned that if students weren't progressing on the program, there may be something else underlying that needed to be investigated. This has been the case for us and unfortunately a handful of students have made little to no progress on this program. These students have been identified to move to the MiniLit program currently being run by Lyndleigh Keogh and their progress will be monitored within this program.

MiniLit started at the beginning of Term Three and has been predominantly targeted towards Year One and Two students, with some students from Year Three. The program is only in its early stages and therefore, there isn't enough evidence at this stage to comment on the progress of the students.

The general feedback from parents and students is that they are enjoying the program and can see success. Other feedback has been provided and this is being addressed. Here are just a few comments:

From the parents…

• "Beryl is the perfect person to deliver this program. Name has gone ahead in leaps and bounds with her ability to read and comprehend. We read with Name every night and this extra input has been invaluable to her progress. She is more confident and now tries to sound words out. I think it has a lot to do with Beryl giving the extra – example of this: explaining what something means, checking to see if Name really did understand the meaning, explaining again if need be and relating it to something that Name is familiar with. Beryl makes learning fun and a challenge. Name looks forward to lessons with Beryl."
• "Name has been disengaged from school, but really loves this program and is sharing what he learns with his teachers and aides."
• "My daughter loves doing the program."

From the students…

• "I really like the program, especially getting to new levels."
• "The sight words is my favourite part of the program."
• "It really helped me with my reading."

Other students are being monitored and will be invited to the program when space is available or if a strong need is identified.

UNIFY

During Terms Two and Three, students from Years 4-6 and Secondary were identified to participate in an extension program called UNIFY. This program is run through Brisbane SDE and covered a range of topics such as Critical Thinking, Creative Writing, Numeracy, Creative Design, Science and so on. Whilst Round Two for UNIFY is nearly over and I have heard some really fantastic feedback from students. Here are just a few things that students had to say:

"I really liked this program, because it helped me slow things down, and get my answers more precise. I loved making friends with the Macgregor kids and catching up with old ones too. I learnt a lot from Critical Thinking and would definitely recommend it for other people. There are fun games to play and fun videos to watch, and the best thing is they all tie into what the lesson is about. Thank you for inviting me to UNIFY." (Student)

"During the past 10 weeks, I have had the privilege of being part of the UNIFY Write On project. In this time, I have learnt many skills which have improved my writing. I have learnt why each different part is included in a story, how to make it more exciting, and how to plan your ideas. I have also benefitted hugely from the constructive criticism, and the unique ideas which were provided by both the class teacher/leader, and other students. I really have enjoyed my time being a part of the project." (Student)

"We are coming towards the end of the UNIFY programme that Name has been doing and have loved it, thank you. I am a bit disappointed that the moderator hasn't held the kids to higher standards in their blogging/written responses to questions that they have done for homework but the lessons themselves have really been wonderful and Name has benefitted enormously from it." (Parent)

Another couple of students have been identified for Round Three and will commence these programs in approximately week seven of this term.

Paper Errors

We are still finding errors in the papers. Please remember that if you find errors or want to provide feedback to simply email me at zfarr21@eq.edu.au explaining the year level, unit, sheet/lesson and the error. All errors are sent through to the paper writers for correction. Feedback can also include clarity for unclear/confusing instructions, tasks and activities.

Premier's Reading Challenge

Premier's reading challenge has run from 18th of May to the 28th of August. I have already received lots of reading logs, but if you are yet to send in yours, it isn't too late. You have until the 28th of August to get your form to me. Keep up the great reading!

Thanks
Zoe Farrer, Curriculum Coordinator

P and C News

Sports Muster

Congratulations to Narungi, champions on the day. Sports Muster is always a great time to catch up with friends and both parents and students alike enjoy their time. For this day to go smoothly there is a lot that happens behind the scenes and a lot of people putting in a huge effort to make the 2 days the success that they are.

A huge round of applause must go to:

Kate Lofthouse, Jenny Swadling and the staff of the school for all their work in the lead up to Sports Muster and for the participation and organisation on the day.

Tracy Sargent, Julie Hawker and their band of merry helpers in the canteen. You did a terrific job feeding the hungry hordes.

Anne-Marie Flynn and Christy Bredhauer for organising the smoko challenge and the bakers for baking and donating the goods. What a delicious spread of food there was.

The Guides, ICPA BOTA and Craig Allen for the food, drinks and entertainment on Thursday night.

Leith Brennan for the student lunches and smokos. And to Jill Radel, Suzanne Bassingthwaighte and Sue Hurford for co-ordinating the feeding of the students.

Eunice Campbell, Lexie Morgan and Di Hansen for all their work with the Pie Drive and Souvenir and Uniform stall at Sports Muster. The pies are delicious and make a welcome break from cooking.

The executives of the P and C for all their work organising and co-ordinating all the things that need to be done. It is a terrific team that support each other.

And lastly to the students themselves for their participation and sportsmanship shown on the day and to the parents who proudly cheer for the students and leave their work behind to bring the students along to compete. These days are all about the students and making them shine whether it be with their athletics, their art and craft or their sportsmanship and friendship.

Battery Drive

The battery drive is continuous, so ask your family and friends if they have any old batteries and contact Sally and Damian Campbell on abc_campbell@harboursat.com.au .

Grants

If anyone hears of a grant going around, please let Greg Keith gregandsarah@antmail.com.au or Michelle Freshwater psecr4@eq.edu.au know. We are always looking out for ways to fund money to assist our students, families and the school.

Fundraising

Running the canteen on Sports Day was profitable with $1 060.46 made.

Information on the profits from the Pie Drive will be available in the next newsletter.

Profit from the Plate Fundraiser was $283.00. Thanks again to all those involved with this fundraiser.

School Camps

Not long now till the year 3-6s head off to the beach for this year's camp. I'm sure most houses will have a little excited body in them. The secondary students will be attending a camp with Western Alliance next term.

September meeting
September 16th @ 7.30 pm
Via Teleconference O7 31815999
Conference Code: 2901452267#
Hope you can make it.

REMINDER……

All memberships are NOW DUE

If you have not been receiving the documents for the meetings, your membership is not current for 2015. Please email the secretary on psecr4@eq.edu.au .

Art and Craft Competition Wrap Up!!

A big thank you to all the students and families who sent in entries this year. We have already found a home for the ironwork ornaments, displaying either the family or property name that were a part of the Family Welding Challenge. If you took your ornament home, but would like it displayed in our school grounds, then we invite you to bring it to Term 4 Mini-school.

Thank you to the Charleville Community!!

This year we were very fortunate to have members of the Charleville community offer their time and expertise to judge our Art and Craft Competition.

Katrina Dunne judging the photography.

Constable De Costa judging the Adopt-a-Cop competition.

Mrs Sullivan and Mrs Kranz judging needlework.

Mrs Pepper and Mrs Dunne from the CWA judging the cooking competition.

And Richard Cook and John Nicholson who judged the ironwork, leather work and visual arts but wouldn't stand still for a photo!!

Digital Discoveries

Email Etiquette for Everybody

By using appropriate manners when sending an email you can ensure you are getting your message across clearly and without offending anyone.

• Make It Personal: E-mails should be personally addressed. Include 'To' or 'Dear' and the person's name and 'Yours Sincerely' or 'Regards' and your own name at the end.
• Don't type in ALL CAPITALS: IF YOU WRITE IN ALL CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING! This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response. The same goes for typing in red.
• Don't leave out the message thread: When you reply to an email, you should include the original mail in your reply, in other words click 'Reply', instead of 'New Mail'. If you receive many emails you cannot remember each individual email. This means that a 'threadless email' will not provide enough information and you will have to spend a frustratingly long time to find out the context of the email in order to deal with it. Leaving the thread might take a fraction longer in download time, but it will save the recipient much more time and frustration in looking for the related emails in their inbox or deleted items!
• Read the email before you send it: A lot of people don't bother to read an email before they send it out, as can be seen from the many spelling and grammar mistakes contained in emails. Apart from this, reading your email through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.
• Use a meaningful subject: Try to use a subject that is meaningful to the recipient as well as yourself. For instance, when you send an email to a teacher requesting information about a unit, it is better to mention the subject name and unit number, e.g. 'John Maths Unit 5'.

Student Email Addresses

Every State School student is provided with their own school email address as part of the Managed Internet Service (MIS) operated by the Education Department. Students are encouraged to use to their school email address to communicate with their class mates and teachers. Email addresses created using the following format (username)@eq.edu.au, where the username is that that the student uses to access all Learning Place resources. Students can check their school email by going to: https://webmail.eq.edu.au/iwc or clicking on the School Webmail link on the School's website.

Why Student Email Accounts?

• By having individual email accounts, students can take control of their communication with peers and teachers and become more independent as they grow older.
• Parents can set up Outlook to allow students to check their accounts without interfering with personal, business or home email accounts.
• As students are using a standard program and accounts teachers will be able to assist with technical issues as everyone is talking a common language.
• Finally, the EQ Code of Conduct suggests that teachers should not be using the personal email addresses of students. This is a grey area for Schools of Distance Education as we need to have regular contact with parents, however by using student accounts to contact students we are abiding by the rules a little better.

How to Encourage your Student to Email

The key is to start simple! Start by getting your child to email their teacher to ask a question or to tell them about something they really enjoyed in a lesson. Encourage your child to type their teachers name at the beginning and their own name at the end.

Girl Guides – Promise Ceremony

Our Annual Promise Ceremony is an exciting and special time for Charleville Girl Guides. The girls based at the school join the local 1st Charleville Unit – meaning we have girls from not only Charleville, but also from all over South West Queensland (including Quilpie and Roma). This year we had a 'light' theme to celebrate the Year of the Light.

Promise Ceremony at the Charleville Girl Guide Hut

The Promise is a personal commitment girls make to become a Guide. It is about yourself, personal development, your own spiritual journey and developing your value system. It is about what you do for others - the commitment to help others and a responsibility to country. The Guide Law gives you guidance and code to live by as girls strive to put their Promise into action.

The Promise and Law underpins everything girls do as a Guide: no matter what activity or challenge. It will enable girls to grow into confident, self-respecting, responsible community members. This important event is when current members renew their commitment to Guiding for another year by saying their Promise in front of the Leaders, Guides of the District, school mates, family and friends. The event is marked with the presentation of their yearly membership star.

Meanwhile, new girls have the opportunity to say their Promise for the first time and officially become members of the school-based Girl Guide Unit. These girls are then presented with their Membership Certificate, Promise Badge and World Badge.

If anyone is interested in joining our special Girl Guide unit, please contact Kookaburra (Sam Owczarek) on sowcz1@eq.edu.au

Kilometre Club!!

At the end of four weeks Narungi were the stand out winners of the Kilometre Club challenge on 1506 km. Kanyanna came in second on a very reasonable 789 km. Keep hold of your final tallies as Kilometre Club will be back in Term 4 just before the Swim Muster. Miss Herwig will send out updated tracking sheets, exercise choices and a class competition in the first week of Term 4.

Western Alliance – Junior Secondary

What is the Western Alliance?

We had an enquiry recently asking where to enrol in the Western Alliance. Well, actually, you don't enrol with Western Alliance. There is no Western Alliance State School. We have staff, students, home tutors, three principals, classes, instruction materials, text books, lessons, exams, a logo, a handbook, Western Alliance camp … all the things that make a school a school. The Western Alliance, however, is not a school with a front gate you can walk through.

The dictionary describes an alliance as an association formed for mutual benefit; a relationship based on interests, nature or qualities.

The mutual benefits of our Western Alliance are evident: when you hear 93 students from all around Queensland, interstate and overseas engage in an on-air lesson with their peers and their teacher; when you see thirty-five students from the western corridor of Queensland meet and interact at a Multischool; when you see ten secondary teachers come together to discuss pedagogy, curriculum, individual student needs and operational issues; when you see three Principals excitedly (yes, excitedly) planning the next enhancement for the Alliance.

What do you see when these groups of people are together? You see learning in motion; growth and development of young people who have a wonderful lifestyle but who need to have education as well; you see laughter, tears and fun, and you know that this is possible because we have combined our resources and formed relationships.

Since its inception, only a few short years ago, we have continually looked for ways to improve the Alliance and its offering to students within the parameters of our staffing and budget. We consider the Alliance not only in terms of the three schools but also an Alliance between students, parents and staff. As we approach Term 4 we have actively started planning for the Alliance in 2016. We welcome parents input into this planning, so we would encourage you to send an email or make a phone call to the principal with your ideas. Students have this opportunity to provide input at Multischool and camp. Please be assured we do consider all suggestions. One of the strengths of the Alliance is our strong relationship based on the mutual benefit of schools and parents working together.

Multischool!! 24th – 28th August in Longreach

Next week the Junior Secondary students will be meeting in Longreach for a week of fun, learning and friendship.

Year 6 to Secondary Teleconference

Do you have a student going into Year 7 next year? Want to know more about the Western Alliance? Check notices for details of the Teleconference coming up soon.

WA Jersey Uniforms

Have you seen the awesome jerseys that our Junior Secondary students have been wearing? Whilst still being a part of Charleville SDE, our students are unique in that they belong to the Junior Secondary Western Alliance. To help promote our uniqueness we now have our own jersey – check them out!