7 December 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

2016 has been yet another outstanding year for Windsor State School. We have all witnessed significant academic, cultural and sporting achievements whilst celebrating and advancing our already strong school culture.

Windsor State School is a dynamic school community with a proud history of providing high quality educational outcomes for students. We have a common belief that for children to learn they need to feel safe, have a love of learning and be provided with life skills that will enable them to experience success. The school culture or ‘Windsor Way’ is strong and achieved through the community’s embracing of and adherence to our values of Respect for Self, Respect for Others and Respect for our School.

Why are we here? What is our core business? We sum up our purpose in one brief statement, that “all students achieve social, emotional and academic success in an inclusive and challenging learning environment”. If students leave Windsor State School at the end of Year 6 having achieved happiness and success in these areas, then we have achieved something we can be proud of.

At the end of 2016, it is wonderful to reflect upon some outstanding achievements. Our academic data continues to be strong and our students have persisted to achieve excellent results in both school-based and national assessments. NAPLAN results for 2016 show significant improvement. The results demonstrate that Windsor State School continues to have higher numbers of students in the Upper 2 Bands (U2B), significantly higher in Year 3 and 5 Reading, Writing, Grammar & Punctuation, Numeracy and Year 3 Spelling and higher in Year 5 spelling compared to state and national cohorts. Windsor State School continues to outperform Queensland and Australia in all areas of NAPLAN, continuing our tradition of academic excellence and outstanding effort.

At Windsor State School we believe that every student is capable of successful learning. Therefore, differentiation is a major focus and an obvious feature of every lesson in every classroom. In 2016, our improvement agenda again focussed strongly on literacy and numeracy and improved outcomes for all students. In 2016, we have surpassed our 2015 target, of 60% achieving in the U2B, in six of the ten NAPLAN tests (Year 3 and 5 Reading; Year 3 Writing; Year 3 Spelling; Year 3 and 5 Grammar and Punctuation) with significant improvement in our focus area of writing this year (57% to 61% in Year 3 U2B and 15% to 27% in Year 5 U2B). We have also improved in Year 3 and 5 Numeracy and are well on track for further improvement in this area next year. We always aim to have 100% of our students above the National Minimum Standards, so have now increased our target to 75% of our students achieving in the top two bands of the NAPLAN tests. We know that our students are more than capable of achieving this with the excellent pedagogy delivered by our outstanding teachers.

This year, we have also been able to roll out small pods of iPads to some classes across the school. Our strategic goal continues to be all teachers enhancing pedagogy by integrating ICTs and digital technologies across the curriculum. We are confident that we can reach our target, with the support of the P&C, by providing pods of iPads to all classrooms across the school with a view to implementing a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) program in 2018.

2016 has been an action packed year for our community. We have had many special events culminating in another successful school Fair, WindsorFest, in October. I would like to thank all members of the community who have given generously to organise special events this year. Your support of the school is greatly appreciated.

I acknowledge the efforts of the School Council, Scott Lawrence, Lee Davis, Katrina Smith, Angela Moore and Russell Napier, for your work in the implementation of the School Strategic Plan this year. Thank you also to the P&C Executive, Scott Lawrence, Tracy Mills, Jen Allen, Kate Dickson, Marissa Allan and Mary-Lou Grohn, for your work in supporting the strategic objectives of School Council and also for coordinating the P&C Association sub-committees throughout 2016. It is the combined work of parents, teachers, students and volunteers that has built our community and makes it extraordinary.

At the conclusion of 2016, a happy and successful year, it is fitting that I also acknowledge the hard work and excellent efforts of our wonderful teachers, teacher-aides and other support staff. I would also like to acknowledge the work of our Administration staff, Kym Garozzo, Robyn Wiseman, Nikki Gannon, Kerri Gavin and our Business Services Manager (BSM), Jeanette Baigent. Often, the wider community isn’t always aware of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes and I thank these people for their commitment to Windsor State School. Thank you also to Mr. Ross Phillips who continues to make our school grounds the most beautiful in the state.

At Windsor State School, we endeavour to provide a supportive learning environment for all students. I would like to acknowledge the work of our STLaN, Fran Lowings, and our Master Teacher, Jan Moore, who have both provided additional support to enhance learning outcomes for students this year. Throughout the year, there have also been many opportunities for students to extend and enrich themselves through curricular and extra-curricular programs. Thank you to Emma Kemph, our Enrichment Coordinator, who works closely with teachers to ensure that children can access all available enrichment and extension opportunities. Thanks also to the teachers who work outside school hours to provide extra-curricular activities such as Chess Club, Science Club (including coding and robotics) and school musicals. The combined efforts of these teachers engages students and assists improvement so that all students fully realise their potential.

Christmas is a very special time of the year for all children. ‘Save the Children’ works to support families, throughout the Christmas season, to ease the worries of financial pressure. Each year we, as a school community, give generously by placing a gift under the school Christmas tree so that others can enjoy a happy Christmas. Traditionally, each family provides a present to be placed under the tree and, this year, these will be donated to ‘Save the Children’ at our final Christmas concert. Please wrap the present and write on the tag the gender and age of the intended recipient. The Christmas tree is outside the office; however, presents can also be brought on the last day of school to be placed under the tree at the Christmas concert. I thank you for your past generosity and seek your support again this year to help those less fortunate.

A reminder that all class parties/clean-up will be on Thursday 8th December. Individual teachers will communicate with parents around celebratory plans for their class. This is a free dress day with a gold coin donation to be donated to our World Vision sponsor child. On Friday, 9th December we will hold our annual Christmas concert around 10:00am. A sausage sizzle will be held after the concert and parents can take children home from the concert once they have been signed out by their class teacher. Children remaining at the school will be supervised in groups whilst our staff make final security plans and clean up before the holidays.

Finally, I would like to thank and commend our Deputy Principal this year, Mrs. Roxanne O’Donoghue for her outstanding leadership and support. I would also like to officially welcome Mr. Stephen O’Kane back to Windsor SS, as Principal in 2017, and thank him for the opportunity to lead Windsor SS this year. As our Year Six students leave us and take on new adventures in a range of high school settings, I wish them well on behalf of the school community. I hope the groundings they received at our school support them and provide them with a strong base on which to build their future successes.

To all of the families leaving us at the end of the year, we wish you luck in your new schools, towns, countries and on your travels. I wish all staff who are leaving us the very best for the future and hope you all enjoy good health, success and happiness in the future.

I look forward to returning as your Deputy Principal in 2017. Have a safe summer break and I hope everyone can find time to rest, recuperate and reenergise. Travel safely and enjoy a joyful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Matt Keong
Principal

ACE Awards

Our final week launched today with our traditional ACE Assembly where we looked back over the successes of 2016 and recognised the achievements of students at Windsor State School this year. We presented awards for academic achievement, commitment to learning and citizenship. Congratulations to the following students who received awards this Semester.

Student Leadership

2016 has been an excellent year for developing student leadership at Windsor State School. Thank you to the Year 6 Student Executive Leaders this year for consistently modelling “The Windsor Way” to all students. Sienna T, Luca G, Sam K, Lily C, Harry S, Maddie P, Harley C, Jasmine S, Brady C, Gemma C, Lachlan F, Tara A, Misha S, Pearl P and Harmandeep K have all been outstanding role models throughout the year and we wish them every success as they enter high school in 2017.

Recently, Year 5 students have been involved in the rigorous process of preparing a CV, responding to selection criteria, undertaking interviews and finally awaiting the results of a ballot. We congratulate the successful candidates on their election to the following positions. The Student Executive Leaders for 2017 are:

Pastoral Care & Behaviour

Students at Windsor State School strive to be Confident, Persistent, Organised, Resilient and they Get-Along with Others. This is evident in the number of students persisting to achieve and maintain their Gold, Silver and Bronze levels of Behaviour in 2016.

At Windsor SS, Behaviour is not simply about compliance. It is not about how quietly children sit in the classroom or whether they go about their work unobtrusively. Behaviour is rated according to each child’s ability to make appropriate choices for themselves. This includes their determination to develop Confidence (by being independent, taking risks and developing self-acceptance), Persistence (by giving effort, working tough and demonstrating a positive “I Can Do It” attitude), Skills to Get-Along with Others (like being socially responsible, playing by the rules, thinking first and making appropriate choices and showing tolerance), Organisational skills (planning their time, looking after their belongings and setting short and long term goals) and most importantly, Resilience (which involves self-regulating their emotional thermometer, not catastrophising and bouncing back after a set-back).

I commend all students for their determination to develop and achieve these positive characteristics of a happy and successful person this year. Some children may have had set-backs along the way, moving up or down levels due to choices made. Life is not always easy or fair and we, as human beings, often make mistakes which require us to re-think the choices we make. Students at Windsor learn from mistakes, carefully self-reflect and try to make the right decisions in the future. It is evident from the results below that, throughout the year, students have remembered lessons learnt from Pastoral Care, identified areas for improvement and set goals about how to improve. This year, at the end of Semester 2:

• 73% of student achieved their Gold level, an “A” on their report cards.
• 20% of students achieved their Silver level, a “B” on their report cards.
• 7% of students maintained their Bronze level, a “C” or satisfactory on their report cards.

Congratulations to all students on achieving these outstanding results in 2016.

Swimming Carnivals

Congratulations to all Sports Houses for a very successful sporting year, particularly to Maynard for winning this year’s Cross Country and to Wilson for taking out the Athletics and Swimming Carnivals. Special mention to Brady C and Gemma C, the Wilson House Captains, for leading your team to victory at the swimming carnivals last week. All teams demonstrated excellent team spirit!

The following students are the 2016 Swimming Age Champions:

OSHC Helping Hands Network

Helping Hands Network is the supplier of Out of School Hours Care at Windsor State School. Parents should be aware that, each term, Helping Hands Network provide a significant financial contribution directly back to the school, dependent on the number of families who utilise the service. This financial contribution directly supports student learning outcomes.

The service operates as a community partnership with the School, Parents and Children to provide all Out Of School Hours Care needs (i.e. Before School, After School and Vacation Care). Helping Hands actively cooperate with government agencies, schools and parents to make the use of the service and payment of fees convenient and affordable while providing exceptional value to our school community.

Deputy Principal’s Report

Academic Reporting

On Monday this week, Semester 2 report cards were emailed out to parents and made available on QParents. During Term 3 and 4, teachers collected and moderated evidence to make overall judgements in order to award final ratings on the end of Semester 2 report cards. Each semester, Queensland State Schools report on student achievement against the requirements of an Australian Curriculum Achievement Standard for all implemented Australian Curriculum subject areas. At Windsor State School, these subjects are English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship (Year 6), Music, HPE and Digital Technologies (Prep-Year 2). The Achievement Standards relate directly to content/skills that have been taught and assessed during the Semester 2 reporting period. This ‘on-balance’ judgement is based on evidence of student performance in assessment folios (DET, 2016). It is important to recognise that the Australian Curriculum clearly outlines the expectations of a ‘C’/‘Sound’ standard. If your child achieves a ‘C’ they are operating at the year level standard/expectation. A ‘C’ means that the student is achieving everything required at their corresponding year level at school. Therefore, attaining a ‘C’ for Achievement means your child is on target for their age and year level.

When making ‘on-balanced’ judgements, teachers use all relevant areas of the Achievement Standard to arrive at an overall result. For example, to receive an overall ‘A’ for English, the student must show evidence of achieving an ‘A’ standard in both the receptive (listening, reading and viewing) and productive modes of communication (speaking, writing and creating). The same applies to Mathematics, to receive an overall ‘A’, students must demonstrate an ‘A’ standard for the proficiency strands of Understanding and Fluency as well as Problem Solving and Reasoning.

At Windsor State School in 2016, we have seen the new Digital Technologies curriculum roll out in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2. Also this year, our Year 6 students engaged with the Australian Curriculum subject area of Civics and Citizenship. As we prepare for the full implementation of all Australian Curriculum subject areas by 2020, we will introduce some new curriculum areas to WSS in 2017. Digital Technologies will continue to roll-out, with Year 3 and Year 4 accessing this new curriculum in Semester 2 next year. All year levels will now also teach and report against the Australian Curriculum Design Technologies, in place of the previous Queensland subject area of Technology. Next year will also see the implementation of Australian Curriculum Economics and Business in Years 5 and 6.

I look forward to working with staff in 2017 to continue to further develop and refine our curriculum plans, assessment and pedagogy to best meet the needs of our students and the changing curriculum.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday.

Roxanne O’Donoghue
Deputy Principal

Pastoral Care Focus

Do the Hi 5:

• Ignore
• Talk Friendly
• Walk Away
• Talk Firmly
• Report

Ignore

• Pretend you didn’t hear it.
• Do not make eye contact.
• Maintain positive body posture (calm, confident).
• Think positive self-esteem statements.
• Count to five in your head slowly.
• Take deep breaths.
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT IGNORING LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Talk Friendly

• Use a calm voice.
• Maintain eye contact.
• Confident body language.
• Maintain relatively close body proximity.
• Use "I" statements – I feel . . . . when you . . . . . because….
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT TALKING FRIENDLY LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Walk Away

• Stand tall, head up high.
• Mouth closed.
• Look confident.
• Do not use eye contact.
• Walk somewhere, preferably towards a congested area or to a safety zone (teacher).
• Do not look back. Walk confidently, don’t run!
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT WALKING AWAY LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Talk Firmly

• As per Talk Friendly.
• Use an assertive voice, slightly raised.
• Tell them to stop it.
• Re-state your “I” statement. e.g. I said . . . .
• State the consequences of continued bullying.
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT TALKING FIRMLY LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Report

• Walk away and tell a staff member.
• Go to a safety zone.
• Bystanders - support and report.
• Report, report, report until somebody listens.
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT REPORTING LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

We always actively discourage retaliation, because when people retaliate they make themselves part of the problem. Children need to be aware that, even as a victim of bullying, choosing to retaliate to a bully can often result in serious consequences for themselves also.

Success occurs when children can not only talk the talk but walk the walk.

Windsor’s Got Talent!

Have you got a talent that you want to showcase? Preparations are now underway for the annual Windsor’s Got Talent! The final performance is on Wednesday 7th December (Week 10) from 11.40am. Parents are welcome to come and watch the show!

The Breathe Project

Just Breathe…These simple words have been flying around our school this week along with one simple breathing technique. This technique aims to enhance mindfulness and wellbeing and reduce stress and anxiety.

The Breathe Project is an independent health promotion initiative empowering youth, schools and communities with one simple breathing technique. The project teaches students and teachers how to practically use this technique and integrate it into the classroom.

This term, Breathe Project Founders Kat & Bodhi dropped in to educate Windsor SS students and teachers on how to breathe correctly and they also encourage parents to join the project. More information is available at the following link.

QParents

Our school now has QParents. Parents should have received an invitation email or letter by now and it’s great to see that so many parents have registered already.

If you have not received an invitation, please advise us immediately. QParents will soon become an integral part of how we communicate with parents. Get on board to enjoy the ease and convenience that QParents offers.

Help us become more ‘paper-less’ by registering for QParents now!

School Stuff

There are three simple methods for filling orders through Schoolstuff:

• ONLINE: Go to the following link at any time to place your order. You can either have your order despatched to your chosen address or it can be collected from our warehouse. Orders are despatched on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays.

• PHONE: Call us on 33917000 and we will place the order for you.
• RETAIL STORE: Visit our store at 81A Caswell St East Brisbane for an instant service. Our staff will pick and pack your order for you while you wait. The store is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays 9am -4pm throughout the year, including school holidays.

Master Teacher’s Report

Master Teacher Update

Reading

Sharing a book is fun

Regardless of the age of your children, it is important to remember to read to them and for them to read to you. This will help their reading fluency, confidence, comprehension and love of reading. Holidays are a perfect time to relax and enjoy a good read, whether it is a hard or a digital copy.

Writing

Writing Highlights

This week, we are showcasing work from students in year 2 and year 6. Both students completed their work in class time.

Christopher’s work was an assessment task. He had to write a new event to add to the middle of the narrative, “The toy boat” by Randall de Seve.

Rosie’s story was written using a picture as a stimulus. She had thirty minutes to write the story, five minutes for planning and five minutes for editing.

Our Playgroup, the Windsoroos

Last Friday, we enjoyed our last playgroup for the year. Some of our Windsoroos will be starting Prep next year and I look forward to working with them in their Prep rooms.

Windsoroos will begin again on Friday 3rd February 2017. I can’t wait to meet our new Windsoroos and reconnect with our old playgroup friends. For those of you leaving us, I wish you well.

Some of our 2016 Windsoroos’ Family

Have a safe, happy and healthy holiday everyone!

Jan Moore

Windsor SS Music

On behalf of the Windsor SS music department I would like to thank everyone who helped organise or attended the 2016 soiree. It was, once again a wonderful night of beautiful music, lovely food and fun!

Thanks to all the performers, Anthony Garcia, Karin Schaupp, Steph Dumigan and Jillian Didemus. Also, a huge thank you to the event organiser, Crystal Cooke. Crystal and her husband Dave worked tirelessly to create the perfect atmosphere for the evening. It was wonderful to have our MC, Donna Field there to help the concert flow smoothly. Her professional, but soothing voice and kind words are appreciated. Thank you Caroline Thurlow for organising the drinks, and also to all those who helped behind the bar. I’d like to give special thanks to Cath Robson. Cath helped out in many areas behind the scenes, but took on the important job of treasurer. If she wasn’t counting money or ticket sales, Cath was counting drinks and making sure everything added up. Thanks Cath, I know this is a huge job. Lastly, thank you to everyone who helped pack up, in particular Tania Waters and Jason McAulay, who spent the whole evening washing the dishes.

The students at Windsor will benefit from the profits!

Kim Fanning

Community Support for Windsor SS Family

Last week brought extremely sad news to the Windsor State School Community with the unexpected passing of a School parent, Aaron Smith, father of Scarlett in Prep. In such difficult times, the family could use the support of our wonderful Community.

To show your care and concern for this family, donations of frozen meals and/or any regular food or non-food items typically required in a household would be greatly appreciated. Lisa Carter, a family friend, and Windsor State School parent has kindly offered to coordinate these donations.

Donations can be delivered to Lisa’s office, Clear Insurance, 101/15 Felix St, Lutwyche.

Please provide meals either frozen or ready to freeze in disposable containers, with a label identifying the contents.

If you would like to provide assistance to this family in any other way, please contact Lisa on lisa.carter@clearinsurance.com.au or 0405 219 861.

Kind regards

Tracy Mills
Vice President
Windsor State School P&C Association

Helping Hands