September 2022

Newsletter Articles

Principals Ponderings

In pondering the “how” of us getting to the end of this term so quickly and smoothly, I wish to thank the team in our school who every day endeavour to make the most of each lesson, each piece of feedback and each task that is within their role. And at times, over and beyond their role. Congratulations to Rickie Itzstein for the fabulous work this year in planning and executing the Year 3 and 4-10 camps. Thoroughly researched, organised, and with every contingency covered, these camps have been a testimony to the calibre of our staff and student involvement, behaviours and learning.

Staffing: One area that has not run as smoothly as hoped is staffing and replacement of teachers when they need to take leave.

We have been short staffed without a relief teacher based in our school. While it is not ideal, we are fortunate that we have the curriculum materials in the home and Home Tutors to continue the units of work. This will continue for the rest of the year with hopefully, less illness or need for teachers to be away.

Term 4 finds us with Gayle Griffin leaving us for other employment and Leah Thomas continuing her leave to finalise her studies. At this time, we have an advertisement up for a Teacher Aide, and we will be notifying families of the support arrangement for term 4 whether we have a replacement or not.

Staffing for 2023 is very exciting as we have three experienced teachers, who have taught distance education in the past, transferring into our team. We will be farewelling Amelia Machray and Racheal de Luca as they leave for new experiences, and we have two staff members going on maternity leave. Rickie will continue as Deputy Principal for 2023.

Management Meeting: Feedback from our Management meeting included parents looking for resources for preparing children for boarding school. From the ICPA website is the following and it includes a link to a book that is recommended.

Resources for Boarding Parents

ICPA Qld highly recommends the book, The Boarding Parents' Handbook by Dr. Kate Hadwen, for all families considering the boarding school journey, families already on the journey, or maybe even for a friend. You can check out the book or purchase a copy here. (link)

Term 4: Coming up we have a busy term with Minischool and Multischool in week 3, our school leaders’ speeches and endeavour towards their positions in 2023, our end of year concert, swim muster, Speech and Awards and Celebrations for our year 6s and 10s in the last week of school.

We have much to look forward to.

Have a wonderful holiday from school. Stay safe and well.

Jenny

From the Deputy’s Desk

NAPLAN Online

Year 3, 5, 7 & 9 students completed their NAPLAN testing online this year. Thank you to our amazing teachers and home tutors for all their support in ensuring our new process went smoothly. The test administrators commented on the students’ concentration and dedication to completing the testing to the best of their ability. NAPLAN results will be available later in the year for parents and teachers.

2023 NAPLAN test window - NAPLAN will be held on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March 2023 with a catch-up day on Friday 17th March. Year 3 Writing will be done on paper by all students and must be scheduled for Day 1.

Academic Reporting

As per the Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Framework we are required to:

• use the evidence of student performance in the assessment folio to make an on-balance judgement about students’ overall level of achievement against the targeted aspects of the achievement standard that have been taught and assessed in the reporting period in each learning area/subject provided
• issue a written report to parents, using the appropriate reporting scale, twice
    O. a year to report on each student’s:
  overall level of achievement for each learning area/subject provided
    O. effort and behaviour
• on request from a parent or in consultation with the school community, provide comparative reporting for each learning area and/or subject provided to the student — while maintaining the individuals’ privacy
• offer parents the opportunity to discuss their child’s achievement, effort and behaviour at the school with their child’s teachers twice a year

Last semester all Academic Reports were sent via email. We welcome any feedback regarding this process. Parent/Teacher Interviews will be available in Week 9 and 10 of this term.

Year 5 and 9 Aspiring Leadership Program

We have started working with our 2023 School Leaders. Students meet every Thursday to work through the Burn Bright Student Leadership Wellbeing Program.

Year 5 Modules

Leadership: In this module, students will have the opportunity to understand why we are all leaders. Students have had the opportunity to define what leadership is and understand how we can harness our influence as individuals.

Teamwork: In this module, students will learn about the key elements of Teamwork and how to effectively work well in a team. Bouncing back from disappointment or challenges is a focus throughout this module as well as the understanding that things do not always go to plan but adopting a positive mindset can help.

Appreciating Diversity: Diversity makes our world colourful! More than that, it makes our world interesting! Every day we have the opportunity to learn something from someone else. Students will explore how to celebrate their own quirks and others.

Service: Students will learn the importance of service and how they can start to serve others in their everyday lives. They will establish the understanding that service can start with just one person and that person then has the influence to positively impact others.

Year 9 Modules

Leadership: This module explores different leadership styles, dives into the concept of leadership as influence and our capacity to lead through serving others.

Service: This module takes a practical approach to service, where students can take the concept and action it in their own lives; in school, at home and in their communities.

Values: This module encourages students to reflect on the things that are important to them and encourages students to use their values to inform their thoughts, actions, behaviour and interactions with others.

Teamwork: In this module, students will have a chance to dive into what it means to be part of a team, how to work together and how they can encourage others more.

Students will deliver their Student Leadership speeches in Term 4 – Week 6 (dates and times to be confirmed).

Year 3 Charleville Camp and Year 4 – 10 Canberra Snow Camp

Thank you to the P&C and Student Council for their very generous contributions to our upcoming camps. I am sure all the parents are extremely grateful for the reduced price. We are looking forward to enhancing students’ learning by providing opportunities to participate in curriculum related activities outside the normal school routine and sharing our stories with the school community.

Term 4 Minischool and Multischool

Planning is in full swing for Term 4 Minischool and Multischool. Primary students will participate in a number of activities including swimming lessons instructed by Michael Winton (Swimming Coach). Secondary students will travel to Longreach to work with their teachers and peers. A great range of activities have been planned for the week.

2023 Planning

Kickstart Conference Planning

Josh Arnold has been booked to visit on 9th – 10th February to re-film our school song – United by Voice.

Vulcana Circus – Booked for the week to run Workshops with all students.

Halogen Leadership – Student Leaders

The National Young Leaders Day has been booked for Monday 20th February. All School Captains will be invited to attend the conference.

Year 3 – 6 Camp

Our booking has been confirmed for our 2023 Beach Camp, 7th August – 11th August at the Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre.

I would like to thank everyone for an extremely rewarding Term 3. We are looking forward to an action-packed Term 4. Happy holidays!

Rickie Itzstein

Head of Department: Primary and Secondary Teaching and Learning

Version 9 Curriculum

F-10 Curriculum Update to version 9 was approved by the education minister in early April 2022 and is now available on the Australian Curriculum website. The Minister has also set the following as a timeline;

• From 2024 state schools will begin to commence the new curriculum of English and Mathematics.
• A staggered approach to implementing the remaining learning areas will continue in 2025 with the proposed full implementation in 2026.

What this will look like for the 7 Queensland Distance Education Schools is yet to be finalised. We are aware that the Version 8 update was a large body of work (that is still happening) and all stakeholders are very keen to ensure a smooth and effective process for this update is finalised in a timely manner ensuring minimal disruptions to our classes and school community.

For more information regarding the specifics of the updates please use the QR codes below.

Storyfest OutWest

In Term 3 Week 3 Rickie Itzstein and Venessa Moore travelled to Longreach with 2 secondary students to attend the Somerset Storyfest OutWest Festival. Featured authors included Jacqueline Harvey, Will Kostakis, Peter Fitzsimons, Caroline Graham, Joel McKerrow, Belinda Murrell, Louise Park, Lucas Proudfoot, Kate and Jol Temple and Lili Wilkinson. Our students were able to attend author sessions where they listened to the various authors tell their life stories and roads to writing. Students also got the chance to attend workshops on slam poetry, storytelling with sound, and creative writing.

Thargomindah Secondary Centre Visit

In week 7 of Term 3 Jenny Swadling, Peta Bates, Venessa Moore and Heidi Goodall visited the Thargomindah Secondary Centre for a Thargomindah Remote Secondary Learning Facility Management Committee meeting and to meet with the students and their parents. Discussion at the meeting involved looking at current and future enrolments and strategies to address current challenges. The centre is a fantastic facility used to support our remote secondary students in their engagement and learning.

Partners in Learning Workshop

The Term 3 Partners in Learning Workshop was presented face-to-face at CSDE during week 6. Over the two days, P-3 parents and home tutors, as well as Katy Williams, Jessica Head and Natalie Dare participated in the workshop which was presented by Michelle Seiber (HOD – Partners in Learning) and Dana Pearce (Senior Speech Language Advisor). The Partners in Learning project aims to:

• Build confidence and capability of Home Tutors of Prep – Year 2 students to support their students in reading and writing
• Provide resources for Home Tutors
• Provide ongoing, needs-based support to Home Tutors through access to a dedicated WA Reading and Writing Coach
• Improve reading and writing results for SDE students across Prep to Year 2.

PLD – Literacy Groups P-Year 3

What is repeated reading?

Repeated reading is an effective method for facilitating reading fluency. Repeated reading requires a student to read the same passage 3-4 times until an appropriate level of fluency is reached.

Reading fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy and expression.

During our Literacy Skills lessons, students read the dictation passage every day. As part of a follow-up after lesson activity, students are required to read the passage again. This will give students the opportunity to participate in repeated reading and improve their reading fluency.

Head of Department: Partners in Learning

The first face-to-face delivery of the Partners in Learning workshop was presented during Week 6 this term. I was pleased to be joined by Dana Pearce, Senior Speech Language Advisor at the Autism Hub & Reading and Writing Centre in Brisbane for this workshop. Dana and I thoroughly enjoyed our two days delivering to a mix of staff and home tutors working our way through the 4 modules that comprise the workshop. Participants (and presenters) worked studiously to further our understanding in speech and language development, promoting oral language development, emergent literacy and finally bringing it all together in how to support the teaching of beginning readers. We developed our understandings through the use of a variety of resources and practical strategies that can be implemented in schoolrooms at home. These included identifying some speech and language development ‘red flags’, observing a shared book reading experience, planning how to teach vocabulary, working through the steps to develop narrative skills, learning about concepts of print, phonological awareness including phonemic awareness, decoding and strategies and scaffolds to support learning to read at home.

Whilst there were one or two activities that were a bit of a hard slog, we worked together to get the task completed and grow our knowledge. There were plenty of laughs and positive feedback at the end of the two days with all participants walking away feeling confident in supporting a child’s reading in Years Prep – 2 and feeling they had learned new knowledge and/or skills. However, that’s not it for these lucky ladies… every participant now has access to ongoing support from me if they have any questions or concerns about anything presented in the workshop or if they just want to chat through something they’ve tried and would like some advice or feedback going forward.

I’m looking forward to coming back to deliver Term 4’s workshop in Week 3, on Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th October. Stay tuned, more information to come!

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.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

– Dr. Seuss

Michelle Sieber
Head of Department – Partners in Learning
Based at Longreach SDE
Available Monday – Thursday
Email: msieb4@eq.edu.au
Phone: (07) 4658 4239

Partners in Learning Term 4 Workshop

PLO Prattle

I always reflect at the end of a term all that our school has achieved during the time. The ups and downs of life for our school community. As a school community it is good to know that it doesn’t matter what happens, we support each other. Talking to your child/ren about what is happening in the world and their lives helps children become resilient and understanding of others and situations that may be out of their control. There are also many services within our communities that can help. I have contacts that I can give you if you are not sure who to speak with.

If you know anyone – neighbours/friends/family or yourself that have children who will be starting Prep next year and 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.

Kick Start Conference 2023 is coming together. A number of presenters have been booked and confirmed, and we are still waiting on a couple of confirmations. The dates for the conference are Tuesday 7th February to Friday 10th February. Giving you heads up for booking your accommodation.

The Year 3 camp and Year 4 to 10 camp have been exciting and fun filled. Not only the learning but the friendships that have been formed is wonderful.

Some of you who know me well know about my handbag and how I can produce different things from it, so for Book Week I came dressed as “Mary Poppins”, which seemed appropriate for me.

Enjoy the break and hopefully see you all at Term 4 Field events.

Cheers

Helen Cook
Parent Liaison Officer

Digital Discoveries

QLearn is coming

QLearn will be replacing eLearn in 2023 – we will be trialling its use towards the end of 2022 in preparation. Miss Murphy’s 3AB class will be the first students to have a go at our new platform and are now enrolled with access. We aim to have all classes (Primary and Secondary) using QLearn for at least the last few weeks of this year.

While the platform has changed, it is similar to eLearn and continues to use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra as the web conferencing tool, so on-airs will look the same. Student usernames and passwords are also the same as they are in eLearn.

QLearn is available from the link below:

Student Laptop Hire Scheme

Check out the flyer for more information:

Need a Laugh?

Did you know you can borrow digital copies of books and audio books through our school library?

Through our online library system, Oliver and Sora, you are able to borrow copies of some great stories that will make you smile.

Check out what books are available at:

Spotlight on Cybersafety: Instagram

Instagram is a highly popular social media platform with over 1 billion users. Instagram allows users to upload images and videos to their feed, create interactive ‘stories’ and exchange private message with others. Find out more bleow.

Regional Tech Hub

The Regional Tech Hub provides independent, free advice about telecommunications services for regional, rural and remote Australians.

Student Work: Year 7 - 3D Design and Printing

Our Year 7 students have now received their 3D block designs they created in Technologies that were printed using our new 3D printers at 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 – Shiv Vemula: svemu4@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 (including eLearn, QLearn, Microsoft Office and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra).

Give us a call or send an email.

Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER)

Students from our school will soon be undertaking, an education tour of the national capital. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $90.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion and has already been deducted from the total cost students have paid for camp.

We would like to sincerely thank the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) for their contribution towards our 2022 Canberra Snow Camp and ensuring our costs are affordable for families.

Year One Authors of Tomorrow

Readers Cup 2022

Congratulations to Rhett, Paige, Zoe, Isabelle and Faith who competed at the Readers Cup State Finals. Well done!

Book Week 2022

Cluster Muster Term 3

Charleville Cluster Muster

Mitchell Cluster Muster

St George Cluster Muster

Quilpie Cluster Muster