17 September 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principals Ponderings

As we come to the end of Term Three, it is very rewarding to take the time to reflect on the remarkable work we have achieved over the last ten weeks. Thank you to our amazing staff, Home Tutors, families and wider school community for continuing to place the success and wellbeing of our students at the centre of every decision we make.

Term 3 Review

Sports Muster and Arts and Craft Competition

Thank you to Jessica Head and Ainsley Thomson for leading the Sports Muster Committee to deliver a very high-quality event. All of the behind the scenes work does not go unnoticed. It was very special to have our Sports House Captain, Matilda Cockayne present her victory speech although she was not able to attend the event.

Thank you also to Karen Scheerer and her committee for showcasing a wonderful mix of painting, collage, sculpture, drawing, photography, jewellery, needlework, leather craft, cooking, metal/wood work and picture books. The judges provided very positive feedback about the creativity and high standard of work presented.

Thank you to Jenny Juniper for continuing to bring Book Fair to our event to allow students and families to browse a selection of books and purchase for their home library.

A special mention to our very hard-working P&C for their catering organisation, a very successful Silent Auction and a hotly contested Trivia Night…who knew we would need so many tie breaker questions! Thank you to Rachel Cooper for overseeing the Student Council committee to provide light refreshments for our students.

Parent Teacher Interviews – Term 3

We are very fortunate to have regular communication with our Home Tutors to discuss student achievement, effort and behaviour. During Term 3 we offer an “official” interview time for further discussion to occur. Five questions that parents can ask teachers may be:

1. What is my child learning?
2. How is she/he doing?
3. How do you know?
4. How can she/he improve?
5. What supports can I provide and can you provide if she/he is struggling? When will we check in again?

Readers Cup 2021

Readers Cup is organised by the Queensland Branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia. It is a state-wide competition for young readers. Teams of four to five students read a set of books, and then compete with other teams to answer quiz questions from the books. Our amazing participants, Paige, Zoe, Liobhan, Faith and Georgia took out first place at our regional competition.

Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty of COVID restrictions, the 2021 Readers Cup State Finals, scheduled to occur in Brisbane was presented virtually. The girls spent the day at CSDE working hard to complete five rounds of questions. They were also treated to two special Author Zoom sessions presented by Lisa Nicol and Amie Kaufman. The girls competed against 17 other teams from around the state and we are ecstatic to announce they were presented runners-up, only 2 points behind the winning team! What an amazing achievement! They proudly represented our school and worked effectively as a team. Thank you to Miss Cooper for leading our team and the extra time she spent supporting the girls.

Staffing – Term 3 and Term 4

Year 5

Thank you to Katy Williams for her efficient transition to supporting our Year 5 students. Katy has been facilitating Reading Groups and also planning and assessing Science, HASS and Visual Arts units of work. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Karen Scheerer for her work, and the support and guidance she has provided for her students, parents and home tutors. Karen will be taking leave for Term 4 and Racheal DeLuca will teach Year 5 for the rest of this year. Thank you to Racheal for ensuring a smooth transition for the students.

Returning and departing staff

At the start of Term 4 we will welcome back Tamara Jenyns from leave. Tamara will be teaching Year 1 as Renae Nass will be taking leave. We thank Renae for her dedication and commitment to her students, families and the school community and wish her all the best as her beautiful family continues to grow.

Welcome to Heidi Goodall our School Guidance Officer, we are very grateful for her input and the support she provides for our students.

We welcome and thank Jill Sugden (Year 2 teacher) for her seamless transition to teaching in a distance education setting. Jill has a wealth of knowledge and we are very fortunate to have her on our team. Jill will continue teaching Year 2 C/D for the remainder of 2021.

Thank you to Amy Klein for temporarily filling the teacher aide position at the Thargomindah Secondary Centre. We thank Daniel Roy for his role at the centre and his commitment to supporting students. The Thargomindah Secondary Centre Teacher Aide position is currently advertised and we are anticipating to have the position filled early Term 4.

Our amazing Technical Officer – Bill Grant will be taking leave from the end of Term 3. Bill has an amazing knowledge base and skill set and will be greatly missed by our students, staff and school community. We thank Bill for his dedication and the support he has provided.

Remembering Tippy

On Sunday 25th July we took the time to remember Tippy Nicholson, all of the valuable contributions she made and the impact she had on our school community. Our very thoughtful staff initiated the idea to purchase a chair to place in our gardens as a memory of Tippy. A special mention to Jenny Juniper for her integral role in this very special memorial and tireless fundraising to cover the costs involved. Thank you also to the P&C for their generous donation.

Moving forward we have a lot to look forward to in Term 4. Term 4 is always a very busy time of teaching and learning, Minischool, Multischool, Swim Muster, Whole School Concert, Speech and Awards and Celebration Dinner. Take this time over the school holidays to relax, refresh and recharge as we move into the end of year events.

Wishing you a safe and enjoyable holiday break!

Mrs Rickie Itzstein
Acting Principal

Head of Department Teaching and Learning

Term Three

Reviewing the Australian Curriculum

ACARA’s review process has involved teachers and curriculum experts from all states and territories, the government and non-government sectors, national teacher and principal professional associations, parent groups and subject matter experts. Final revisions to the Australian Curriculum will be provided to education ministers for their consideration and endorsement before the end of 2021. The updated version of the F-10 Australian Curriculum, once approved by Ministers, will be made available on a newly designed Australian Curriculum website for the start of 2022. If you are interested in following the progress of the Review please subscribe to the ACARA newsletter, ACARA Update , or keep checking the website for regular updates.

The consultation curriculum is still available to view but feedback has now closed.

Partners in Learning Program 2021

We are committed to ensuring that every student, no matter where they live, has access to a range of high-quality education and training programs. The Partners in Learning Program supports Schools of Distance Education to enhance the skills of Parents and Home Tutors in improving children's reading. Thank you to our 2021 participants and their dedication to further enhance their knowledge and understanding and how they can support the student/s they are working with. We are currently collating the data from the final review survey to gauge participants confidence at the conclusion of their training, the most relevant and useful information in the training and how the program delivery may look in 2022. I encourage all Home Tutors to support this very worthy training, more information will be available early next year.

Prep – Year 12 Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Framework

The Prep – Year 12 Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Framework (P-12 CARF) specifies the requirements for all Prep – Year 12 Queensland State Schools to deliver a world-class education. The P-12 CARF sets out the requirements for all schools ensuring the:

• right of every child to access education, primary and secondary, appropriate to their needs;
• provision of a high-quality education supporting every student to succeed through each stage of schooling in a safe and supportive learning environment; and
• success and wellbeing of all students through inclusive education responsive to the needs of diverse learners.

During our Term 3 and 4 Staff Meetings we will continue unpacking the document examining the following sections:

• Minimum requirements for providing the Australian Curriculum in Prep to Year 10 from 2022
• Assessment in Prep to Year 10
• A whole school approach to differentiated teaching and learning
  - Individual curriculum plans for students in Prep – Year 10
• A whole school approach to pedagogy
• Moderation processes in Prep to Year 10
• Preparing students for success in senior secondary
• Reporting to parents

Annual Performance and Development Plans

Performance and capability is everyone’s responsibility

During Term 4 we will move into Phase 3: Feedback and review. In this phase teachers will engage in a reflection of performance against agreed plan goals using multiple sources of evidence. They will also receive performance-focused feedback in both verbal and written form from their plan supervisor. We thank the teachers for their commitment to this process as they work towards achieving their SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time phased) goals. SMART goals have the following benefits:

• They increase motivation
• They allow the goal setter to measure progress and capability development
• They allow the goal setter to control their progress
• They allow others to monitor their progress
• They allow the goal setter to set priorities and make decisions earlier if the plan needs to be adjusted

PLO Prattle

Our world is very much topsy turvy with Covid-19 still happening. It seems these days when we plan anything for school we are doing Plan A & Plan B to cover all bases. We were lucky to be able to have Sports Muster which I am very happy to say NARUNGI won, Yippee.

Now it’s time to think about Term 4 Minischool, Multischool, Speech & Awards, Year 6 & Year 10 Celebrations, Swim Muster, Christmas Concert and finally Report Cards – whew, feeling exhausted just thinking about it all. Don’t forget to get your accommodation booked for these fantastic events.

If you are looking for some second-hand school shirts, I have a box of assorted sizes and colours (blue, green and red). Contact me to see if I have any in your child’s size.

If you or anyone that you know (neighbours/friends/family) have children that will be starting Prep next year and they haven’t received an Enrolment Package, please email or give me a call to organise. Don’t leave it too long to do. The more the merrier.

I have been partaking in the Triple P Parenting Course this term and will complete (fingers crossed) next term to become an Accredited Practitioner. This will help in my role to support parents and families around parent skills. Parenting can be a tough job sometimes but it can also be very rewarding to see your children grow. Being a parent involves caring for, protecting, teaching and guiding children and young people.

Narungi Captains

Enjoy the break and see you all next term for a busy time ahead.

Cheers
Helen Cook
Parent Liaison Officer

Digital Discoveries

Accessing OneNote – Using the preferred app

At Charleville SDE families are asked to use the 2016 OneNote App to access their OneNote Notebooks. This is available as a free download from

Using the preferred app

Accessing OneNote – Using the right account

When signing into the OneNote 2016 App it is vital that students are signing in with their school (MIS) email account, not a personal email account.

Using the right account

Accessing OneNote – Opening Class Notebooks

Once OneNote 2016 is installed and signed in, students can go to eLearn, click the link to their Class Notebook to open it online.

Students then click the Open in OneNote button at the top of the page. This will open the Notebook in the OneNote 2016 App for access from there each day.

Opening the Notebooks

Spotlight on Cybersafety: What Parents Need to Know About HOOP

Have you seen HOOP appear on your child’s device recently? Hoop is a social networking app that syncs with Snapchat to help users build their community of friends. It works on the same principles as Tinder.

Holiday Coding Workshop

The following is an opportunity for students to develop their coding skills over the holidays using Scratch and Python – two platforms we use at our school. Visit the website to find out more including dates, times and cost.

Year 7 Student Work

The Year 7 students study water in both Geography and Science during the year. So when it was time for Digital Technologies, the students used their wealth of knowledge to develop games for their peers around anything to do with water. It was great to see a range of games being made as the students explored a variety of coding options.

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, Microsoft Office and Collaborate Ultra).

Give us a call or send an email.

School Laptop Hire Loan Scheme

Charleville School of Distance Education has Student Laptop Hire Loan Scheme laptops available for eligible families (Geographically Isolated or Medical). Please read the flyer below and contact Bill Grant if you are interested (wjgra0@eq.edu.au).

Sports Muster 2021

QLD Ballet Student Workshops

District Sports

Book Week 21-27 August 2021

Prep Enrolment 2022

eKindy Enrolment 2022