April 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Ponderings

As we move into Term Two, I looked back at my ponderings from this time last year, and this is what I wrote:

“As we come to the end of term One, I would like to thank Parents, staff and students for their resilience in adversity, contributions to and support of our school.

Teachers new to our school have taken on new learning, processes, pedagogies, friendships and many different ways of doing things. And for some, all of this while settling into a new town…”

What was I thinking…”resilience in adversity???”

Notwithstanding the drought and fires that many families have experienced across our community and Australia, for many of us this pandemic has been the most far reaching, surreal, life adjusting happenstance that we have come in contact with. And yet, we are also on the periphery of it. For many of us it is the “what if?” and facing the unknown.

If we watch TV we will see so many people affected in cities and other countries, and while we are doing what we can to keep all members of our school community and indeed our Australian community safe and well, what we all want is to come through this with happy, healthy children who can continue to learn and to develop skills for the future. Helen’s article from Michael Grose puts it in these words: [to] “develop a broad range of personal capabilities rather than a narrow number of academic abilities.”

We are very grateful to be following our usual delivery – all of our staff are at school socially distancing, on-line staff meetings, no weekly morning teas – and our students have lessons as per our usual timetable. The other option, while doable, was going to be very challenging. Our usual delivery will continue until week five and with the great work everyone is doing across Australia, I am hoping that with the continued reduction of cases of COVID-19, all schools will be able to return to “all students at school”, and there will be a lifting of the stringent, socially distancing requirements that protect our school communities. I feel we are very fortunate to be in distance education at this time.

Our Western shires of Queensland have been very proactive in working with the government and Department of Education in assuring that all staff who travelled away during the break, have had a health screening before returning to work.

Pondering on your experience of working and teaching your own children…now is the time for you to shine with your suggestions for those who are doing this for the first time! (Start a blog – charge for your time!) The parents across the world who have been thrust into it without the underlying knowledge that this is what they signed up for by living where they live! Oh and if only the technology would hold up with over a million students, teachers and parents all logging in at the same time!

The term ahead will be quiet. We will all miss catching up at Minischool, Multischool, ANZAC Day, and Cluster Musters…and this makes such a long break between seeing each other. We continue to plan for field events in Term Three. We are proposing a Minischool leading into Sports Muster, the year 3 -6 camp, Western Alliance Camp and Cluster Musters.

In the meantime students can stay connected in Clubs, Assembly each Tuesday morning and in their on-air lessons. Also, keep an eye out for any competitions (advertised on Notices) and special events that may be offered on line!

Sadly, Readers’ Cup has been cancelled for this year. Thank you to our wonderful team who were so keen to lead, read and learn in this competition. It is disappointing. I assume that the organisers could not see how to continue the process past the first challenge that they were going to complete on line, while considering the unknown future.

P&C

Congratulations and thank you to our outgoing P&C executive. Your support for and commitment to our students has been much appreciated and delivers great results.

Thank you for all of your work: - to Brie Boyle as secretary, Natalie Pampling for representing the WA parents, Christy Bredhauer for the grant applications she has written, Christie Clinch as VP Cunnamulla, Sue Hurford as Roma VP, Anne Worsnop as Qu/Er/Th VP and Bec McKeering as SODEA rep. Welcome to your new roles as below and our very best wishes to those leaving us.

Our incoming (and some staying on, thank you!) officers are:

Fundraising this year will be a little different as there are no tourists coming through to purchase souvenirs, and no face to face activities until Term Three. So we are looking for some innovative and different ways to stay connected and fundraise!

The pavers (ordered last year) have been laid thanks to Steve and Jay (Our Schools’ Officers). I am looking forward to when you can walk up the front path and see them!

The next P&C meeting will be Tuesday 12th May at 3pm.

Curriculum Updates:

As previously mentioned, assessment and reporting for Term 2 / Semester 1 will be adjusted by teachers to reflect the nature of learning over this time. The department will provide further advice regarding this issue and I will communicate this with you when we know what is expected.

The writing of the ILMs will continue as planned across the Western Alliance.

Wishing you all a wonderful term.

Stay safe, stay well and stay connected.

Jenny

From the Deputy’s Desk

Kickstart Conference

Kickstart conference was a huge success with students and home tutors enjoying a range of activities. Highlights from the week include drumming, dance, NRL, the outdoor cinema, skirmish and swimming. It was wonderful to spend some time together in a face-to-face environment.

Student Leadership

Student leaders have been participating in student leadership sessions on a Friday with me. These sessions are focussing on a leadership model that extends their current skills and equips students to take the lead in a variety of settings within our school. I look forward to these sessions being back up and running this term.

Kalora 2019 Edition

Our Kalora magazine has been at print since March and should be arriving in our school soon (some delays with the Covid-19 pandemic and staff changes to the company). These will be posted to families as soon as we receive them. If you missed ordering your copy, please contact the school as there were a few extra copies ordered.

Have a wonderful term everyone!

Mrs Dunne

Primary and Secondary HOD | Teaching and Learning

Rickie Itzstein | Mandy McDonald | Venessa Moore

Version 8 Australian Curriculum Alignment Process

We have continued our alignment process in conjunction with Longreach School of Distance Education and Mount Isa School of the Air. Through this process, our Independent Learning Materials will align with Version 8 of the Australian Curriculum. We were fortunate to attend a Middle Leaders meeting to ensure all schools are following the same process to develop a high quality product for our students. Thank you to our dedicated teachers and teacher aides who are working through this process and to our relief staff who work with our students to ensure continuity of learning.

Coaching and Feedback

CSDE teachers have started the Coaching and Feedback cycle following the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership process. Whilst it takes many different forms, coaching is principally a joint enterprise in which one person supports another to develop their understanding and practice in an area defined by their own needs and interests. Coaching often involves integrating new or alternative approaches into the professional’s existing repertoire of skills and strategies. We are looking forward to seeing this process continue during Term 2.

Professional Learning Communities

This term we have introduced professional learning communities (PLCs). These sessions involve collaboration, sharing and ongoing critical interrogation of teaching practices in line with professional standards. PLCs are learning-oriented and promote the growth of teachers and students. It is evident that effective PLCs:

• Help develop teachers’ confidence and self-efficacy.
• Encourage and build effective leadership and management.
• When teachers across a school implement the same learnings and strategies, they create a consistent learning experience for students.

We thank all of the teachers for their dedication during Term 1 and we are looking forward to a very productive Term 2.

PLO Prattle

Term 1 has been and gone in the blink of an eye.

Covid-19 has really put a spanner in the works for everything around the world. Luckily we were able to hold Kick Start Conference combined with the first Minischool for the year. 70 students and 45 Home Tutors attended this combined event and feedback has been positive around the joining of the two. Yes there were a few hiccups that were quickly sorted and will be taken into account when planning for next year.

An article from Michael Grose.

The future your children will inherit will be very different than the world we live in now. For instance, a university degree, once a guarantee of a well-paid job, will no longer ensure your child a career, let alone a steady income. That doesn’t mean that we devalue education. Far from it, as all indications about the future of work suggest that your child’s ability to take on new knowledge and commit to acquiring new skills will be more important than ever. Continuous learners rather than those who close themselves off to new ideas and concepts will thrive in the future.

So how can we prepare children to thrive in a world where it’s estimated that over 20 per cent of today’s jobs won’t exist in just five year’s time? How do we prepare them for a work-life of multiple careers and job changes?

Recently, I spoke with Nikki Bush, well-known human potential and parenting expert in South Africa and author of a new book Future-proofing your child for the 2020’s and beyond. Nikki believes that the future will belong to those who develop a broad range of personal capabilities rather than a narrow number of academic abilities. These capabilities include:

Creativity and innovation

With information being only a digital search away, knowledge is already easy to obtain in the digital age. The ability to think outside of the square and find new solutions to old problems will be one of the most highly valued skills in the new world of work. Bush maintains, that by tapping into kids’ natural inclination to resolve their own problems in unique and not always adult-friendly ways (soup for breakfast anyone?), we can nurture the type of creativity that will help them succeed in the future.

Promoting personal resilience

Life doesn’t unfold in a straight line. It never has, but the future of work will have more twists and curves than ever before. Kids will need to be resilient and flexible enough to cope with rapid workplace change and lack of security, as well as be able to manage risk to earn a living. Bush maintains that kid’s resilience is enhanced when parents provide them choices and allow them to experience the full consequence of their decisions. She cites the example of a child who chose to coast prior to an exam rather than study hard, and then had to live with the consequences of performing poorly and not getting the grade he needed. It took a year of hard slog and study to recover from this set-back, but he got into the course he wanted with a full appreciation of the effort required to succeed. The future will belong to those who can live with and recover from these types of uncomfortable experiences.

Developing Self knowledge

Personal knowledge of strengths, capabilities and talents has been a skill that we’ve neglected to develop in kids. When the future is fluid and work continually changes, self-knowledge will become a passport to happiness and success. Bush suggests that kids should continually develop their own talent profile, which will become a valuable resource both during and after the school years.

There are no guarantees for the future. Life doesn’t work that way. It’s good to know that there are some signposts to follow to help us prepare our children to capitalise on the opportunities available in the changing career and social landscape ahead.

I hope you enjoyed the break. Stay safe in these times of uncertainty.

Cheers, Helen Cook, Parent Liaison Officer

Digital Discoveries

App of the Month: Alien Adventure

Created by the Department of Education (Queensland) this is a fun app with an interactive story about a new kid in class, an alien from another planet. The app’s objective is to teach children social and emotional skills and how to identify and deal with inappropriate behaviour. Aimed at students aged 3 to 8 years of age.

Apple - Available from:

Congratulations Matilda

Last year Matilda built a Rube Goldberg Machine for an assessment task in Year 8 DDT. She then entered her work into a state-wide competition.

She won 2nd prize with the judges saying that she was very close to first place.

Matilda won a special Lego ‘Chain Reactions’ book to help her explore more creations.

Well done Matilda!

Student Newsletter

Be Kind Online: Little Reminders

Year 7 students learn to use CAD

The Year 7 students have been experimenting with CAD – Computer Aided Design to create some 3D objects using a website called TinkerCAD.

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.

Girl Guides

World Thinking Day

Girl Guides from the 2nd Charleville Lones Unit have been exploring an important event in the Girl Guide calendar: World Thinking Day. A day when we remember how Girl Guides started, our founders and think of all the Guides in our World Wide Association.

Recently the Girl Guides explored poetry and wrote Haikus about diversity

Individual Badge Work

Each of our Girl Guides choose challenges to work on at home. Here are some examples of some of those challenges.

Investigating and sharing about a charity

Email Mrs Sam O on sowcz1@eq.edu.au if you would like to join our fabulous Girl Guide unit and application forms and information will be forwarded to you.

Student Newsletter

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

Sporting Stars