April 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Ponderings

READING-RELATIONSHIPS-WESTERN ALLIANCE

Thank you all for a very successful start to the year.

Congratulations on the effort that has gone into and the outcomes that have come out of the Kick Start Conference, Minischools, and the Secondary Multischool this year. Each student, Home Tutor, Parent and Staff member has contributed to these successes and the learning and enjoyment for each person is important in our ongoing pursuit of success in our goals.

Celebrations and a special thank you to all parent representatives on our P&C committee who have held positions this past year and to all who have contributed to meetings and support of the students in the school.

A warm welcome too to those who are taking positions for the next year.

Staffing:

Joel Goodingham has commenced as Primary Support Teacher Literacy and Numeracy. We welcome Joel to our school. He will start support lessons in week one of term 2.

Minischools/Multischools:

Thank you to everyone for the planning and support at Minischools. The kitchen whizz’s made delicious and nutritious meals…thank you to all of you who helped in the kitchen and in supervising students. Each field event progressed smoothly with much fun and laughter.

Assembly:

Thank you to Sarah for bringing back the assembly and for the leadership of the school captains and leaders in running these. We have some very fine public speakers who are putting expression and excitement into the notices of what is coming up and what has gone by. Congratulations everyone.

Next term due to popular demand we will trial assembly at 8.00am on Monday morning. All notices must be to Ms Norquay by 3.00pm the Friday prior to the assembly.

This will commence on Monday the 23rd April.

Partners in Learning:

The next step in the Partner’s in Learning is to have sessions at Cluster Musters to answer and demonstrate some of the more practical questions and strategies around reading.

Management Meeting:

At the last management meeting it was decided that a parent representative from the Western Alliance parent body would be an asset to the committee and decision making that includes our Secondary student body. Should there be a Cluster representative who has Primary and Secondary students in our school then that person can represent their cluster and secondary. At the moment we have no parent representatives who have secondary students.

We are calling for a representative for the remainder of 2018 and 2019 who has a secondary student/s in Western Alliance to attend the Management Committee meetings. The next one will be by teleconference in term 2.

Please nominate by 20th April by email to jswad2@eq.edu.au

Principal’s upcoming responsibilities:

I am fortunate to be part of a study tour in Canada during the Easter break and for the first week of term 2. I will be visiting schools in Vancouver and Edmonton and attending a conference in Banff with 3 fellow Principals from Queensland.

Sarah will be acting Principal while I am away.

From the 21st May I will be on leave to act in a position in the Queensland Teachers’ Union for 6 weeks.

Sarah will be acting Principal and we have yet to determine who will be acting Deputy Principal.

Looking back over this term we have achieved so much.

Looking forward to next term?

Next term will be a busy happy time with

• Successful Cluster Musters
• Successful reporting
• Student success
• ANZAC DAY
• NAPLAN (24th and 25th May)
• Four short weeks! (Staff professional development day, Anzac Day, Labour Day, Charleville Show Holiday)

All the very best for Patricia Nolan and congratulations on her marriage on the 24th April to Brendan Albury. We wish you a happy ever after!

“Alone we are smart but together we are brilliant. We can use the collective wisdom to do great things when we are connected.”

Have a wonderful well deserved holiday.
Jenny

From the Deputy’s Desk

After a whirlwind few weeks of Minischools and Multischool we are looking forward to the next school event – Cluster Musters on the 24th April (Charleville, Quilpie, and Mitchell) and 10th May (Roma and St George).

Minischools were very well supported by families. Thankyou! Roma Minischool had 39 students, Charleville had 36 students, and Thargomindah with 24 students. Please see the wonderful photos of the Minischools in action in this newsletter. A big thank you to the food coordinators and helpers who not only provided the most amazing meals but also assisted with the supervision of the students at the pool and shower time.

Multischool had 22 students from Charleville attending, making a grand total from across all three base schools of 46 students attending the Longreach Pastoral College. The College was an ideal venue for this event as we could utilise any facility not in use by the College. Please see the photos in this newsletter of the Multischool.

Assemblies have been successful this term. As a result of feedback from parents, we are shifting the time to 8am on Mondays so everyone can start the week informed. The first assembly will be Monday 23rd April in Week 2 as the first Monday of the term is a Staff Professional Development Day. This assembly will be a special one, as we will be honouring our ANZACs.

The topic for the Cluster Muster Home Tutor session and staff that will be attending will be advertised in notices very shortly. Thank you to the many families who have already put in their attendance form. They all look like they will be very well attended, except for Roma. At the time of writing this article, there are no families that have registered to attend this particular Cluster Muster, therefore it has been cancelled.

On a completely different subject. We are looking for families to host our new teachers. Are you interested in being a host families for two days or so during Week 7 (28th May) to give our new teachers an understanding of distance education from the Home Tutor’s perspective? I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me know by the Friday 20th April. Thank you for opening your homes to our teachers.

I wish all you all a restful break from the classroom and see you next term!

PLO Prattle

Wow Term 1 is done and dusted. I often think when we get to the end of this term, how we fit so much in.

Minischools and Multischool were another huge success. I attended the three Minischools for 2 days this time to help in the kitchen while some of the Home Tutors attended the Reading Program that Tam was presenting.

Look how clever the Home Tutors from Charleville Minischool were. A Pirate ship and a Frog both filled with fruit salad. Maybe this could be a challenge for the next lot of Minischools to see which group can come up with the best design.

A few more suggestions from Michael Grose around some parent ideas to help keep us all sane as parents or Home Tutors.

“A hard part of dealing with kids, whether you are a teacher or a parent, is to ignore some of their ‘last wordedness’ and the verbal comments they throw our way.

We are not suggesting that we ignore all taunts or rude remarks but there are many occasions when we should just leave the ‘imaginary rope’ that children throw where it lies. Usually when we ‘pick up the rope’ we turn into a child!

‘Throwing the rope’ is effective as behind most conflict between kids and adults are the deeper issues of:

Power (“I want to make you do this”),
Position (“I’m the adult so you should listen to me”) and
Prestige (“I want others to think I’m doing a good parenting job”).

Arguments, last-wordedness or comeback lines, which are often about kids saving face, threaten our position or prestige as parents or teachers. “You can’t say that to me, I am the adult,” is the type of thinking that brings us undone every time.

They are also a way of kids saying that I will acquiesce to you but on my terms, which is about power.”

I hope you all have a restful break and come back rested and ready for another busy term.

Cheers

Helen Cook
Parent Liaison Officer

Digital Discoveries

App of the Month: Reading Eggs Sight Words (Eggy 100)

If your child is beginning to learn sight words this app is for you! This app will help your child recognise and learn the essential sight words that make up a large part of everyday reading. They will do this while playing a fun game that will keep them engaged for many hours. Eggy Words is compatible with iPad, iPhone and Android devices. There is a free version, Eggy 100, which contains the first 100 sight words or you can purchase the full version, Eggy 250, which contains the top 250 sight words your child will need to learn. Both apps are available to download on iTunes or Google Play.

Microsoft Office 2016 Free

Students of Charleville SDE are able to access a free copy of Microsoft Office 2016 via Education Queensland. This provided students with the latest version of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, OneNote and Outlook. To access your copy contact the school technicians for a copy on CD or visit:

Holiday Time

The school holiday break, is a good time to check over your computer, give it a clean on the outside, sort out some of the files on the inside and do a backup of information while there are no lessons (after eating some chocolate of course!).

Student Work

The Year 8 students have been learning about sitting correctly (or ergonomically) at a computer. Below is Weston’s brilliant diagram he drew to communicate the main ideas. How are you sitting at your computer?

Check out the latest blog posts:

Prep – Year 3 Student Link:

Years 4 – 9 Student Link:

Year 10 Student Link:

Visiting the School? Did you know . . .

When you visit the school’s campus in Charleville students are able to bring their own device (eg. tablet or laptop) and connect to the school’s Wifi Internet using their school username and password. This will allow students to connect to on-air lessons, access eLearn and use their emails while on campus. Students may also use a dedicated room (‘The Green Room’) to do lessons from using a phone, however this must be booked in advance and a home tutor must be present at all times. Please contact the school if you wish to use this resource next time you are visiting the school.

From the Technician’s Table: Need More Help?

If you are having trouble with log on details, access problems, computer or headset issues or just want some advice we are here to help you. . .

School Technician – Bill Grant: wjgra0@eq.edu.au or 07 4656 8909

For all phone and headset issues and problems with computers.

Digital Learning Facilitator – Sam Owczarek: sowcz1@eq.edu.au or 07 4656 8915

For advice or help with using programs or tools on the Learning Place (including eLearn, Student Space and Blogging).

Give us a call or send an email.

Partners in Learning Reading Workshop

During March, Home Tutors had the opportunity to attend the ‘Partners in Learning’ reading workshops held in Roma, Charleville and Thargomindah.

The ‘Partners in learning’ program trial has been developed with the goal to improve our students reading skills in the Prep to Year 2 focus area. It helps Home Tutors understand more about learning to read, so that tutors are confident monitoring and providing feedback to teachers about their child’s progress.

The Partners in learning reading
workshop covered 4 modules;

Module 1 – Learning to read
Module 2 – Engaging with phonics
Module 3 – Supporting readers
Module 4 - Responding to readers

There were 34 Home Tutors who participated in the two day workshops. These workshops provided time to consolidate understandings about learning to read, share ideas with fellow Home Tutors and learn new skills to implement into the schoolroom.

Thank you for your time and positive enthusiasm during these workshops.

What next? Term Two will see Primary Class Teachers working with Home Tutors to set reading goals for individual students and working to improve student reading, as partners in learning.

Tamara Jenyns

P & C News

The P and C executives would like to welcome all new families to the school and invite you all to join the P and C. Our P and C is a group of volunteers working together to raise funds to purchase resources, send children on camp, assist families with attending field events and work towards a better education for our children.

Sports Muster

Planning is well underway for this year’s Sports Muster in June. For all new families this is a fabulous two days where they children get to compete in not only track and field events but also an arts and craft competition. They score points for their houses and have a very social time with their school mates and teachers. Sports Muster is also a very social time for Mums and Dads with many Dads making the journey out. Make sure you mark the dates on your calendar and book your accommodation.

Battery Drive

The battery drive is still running. Please ask your family and friends if they have any old batteries.

Fundraising

This year the P and C will be running a Pie Drive in June. This is a great way to support the school, but also to fill your freezer with yummy pies that are quick and easy to cook. We will also be doing Tea towels with all the children contributing a self-portrait to be printed on it. Please keep an eye out for documents in relation to both these fundraising activities.

Grants

We are always looking out for ways to fund money to assist our students, families and the school. If you hear of any grants, please contact me or another executive.

REMINDER……

All memberships NOW DUE

If you have not been receiving the documents for the meetings, your membership is not current for 2018. Please complete the form and send to the secretary, Brie Boyle.

Instrumental Music Camp

Last week one of our Senior Music Students, Renae Hubbard, attended Darling Downs South West Region Secondary School Music Camp. This camp provides young musicians with positive and accessible musical opportunities to develop their leadership skills through participation across a variety of leadership roles in a string orchestra.

Queen’s Baton Relay

As the 2018 Commonwealth Games gets closer, the Queen’s Baton has been travelling around Australia on its way to the Gold Coast, where the games will be held.

Communities across the South-West have had the opportunity to cheer on local participants as they proudly displayed the Queen’s Baton through our streets. It was an especially inspiring moment for the Charleville School of Distance Education community to see some of our wonderful Students and Staff participate in this event.

Congratulations, Akierraleigh Denton, Logan Flynn, Rohan Pampling, Sam Owczarek and Kerry Radnedge!

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is held on the 8th of March every year. This year our Staff enjoyed an afternoon tea to celebrate the achievements of women across the world.

Student Newsletter

Please click on the following link to view the latest Student Newsletter