15 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Windsor State School has an excellent reputation and strong community support. This results from parents and school working together to provide the very best educational opportunities for our children.

There are many opportunities for parents to be actively involved in the wide variety of school and community events. Parents act as volunteers in classrooms supporting the literacy and numeracy programs of our school. Parents are actively involved in working bees and fund raisers to enhance the school environment and school resources. I thank all parents who actively support Windsor State School, it is greatly appreciated by staff.

On Monday, we had the induction of our school leaders for 2017. At this assembly, we recognised and celebrated the achievements of those who we, the staff and students, selected as the representatives for our school. Congratulations to our Student Executive Leaders and Student Councillors on their selection. I am certain that 2017 will provide them with many opportunities to learn and practice the habits of effective leaders. These habits of Speaking Up, Stepping Up, Having a Go, Thinking Team and Showing the Way are their toolkit to success. I also commend the parents of these students on their efforts to nurture and guide them as they have grown. Congratulations to our Student Executive Leaders and School Council as follows:

I hope that this year provides them with the opportunity to flourish and further develop into wonderful young people who will grow to be our leaders in the future.

Each year a school’s staffing ratio is determined by the Day 8 enrolment data. I am pleased to advise that there will be no changes to our existing 28 classes. Windsor State School continues to be the school of choice in the local area; however, at 28 classes, we are currently at capacity and do not take enrolments from outside catchment.

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, at the end of 2016, Mr. Stephen O’Kane informed me that he had been appointed to the position of Principal, MacGregor State School. MacGregor is a much larger primary school than Windsor, on Brisbane’s Southside, and a great achievement for someone who has worked in Queensland State Schools throughout a long career. I have enjoyed working with Stephen immensely over the past 7 years and wish him every success in this new and challenging role.

Stephen first came to Windsor State School in 2004, when enrolments were around 300 students, and has seen Windsor through incredible change over the years to the point where we are now at almost 700 enrolments and the school of choice in Brisbane North. Stephen’s decision to move on from Windsor after many years of commitment and hard work was definitely not an easy one. Nonetheless, he has left Windsor a much better place than he found it. Stephen asked me to communicate that he misses the Windsor community and thanks everyone for such tremendous support and encouragement over the years. He believes that it is through the efforts of our entire community that Windsor State School has continued to improve. Stephen acknowledges that it is only when parents, teachers and students work together that school improvement can be truly realised. This Thursday 16th February, from 6:30pm-8:30pm during the Senior Disco, we officially farewell Stephen at a small function on the ANZAC Terrace. I look forward to our whole community coming together to say thank-you and farewell to someone who has contributed enormously to Windsor’s success over the years.

Have a happy and successful week.

Matthew Keong
A/Principal

ALLERGIES & INTOLERANCES

As it is the start of the year, this is just a reminder to be wary of what you pack for your child’s lunch. Windsor State School cannot enforce a nut or egg free policy; however, we can appeal to your goodwill and request that you do not send products that may cause severe allergic reactions. It is important that all students can feel safe whilst eating. Below are some links to give assistance in understanding food related allergies and intolerances and how it can affect one’s child.

Recently, the P&C Retail Sub-committee called a meeting to discuss the inclusion of egg in the tuckshop menu. After much consideration and information from Education Queensland, Healthy Kids, Allergy.org and the ASCIA Guidelines - Prevention of Anaphylaxis in Schools, the school and P&C have decided to take the following actions, in the tuckshop, to ensure that all possible risk to students with egg allergies is minimised:

• An 'egg-zone' has been introduced to the tuckshop kitchen for preparing all egg recipes with colour coded chopping boards and a step-by-step process is now displayed in the area to guide all staff/volunteers to thoroughly wash up the area using hot soapy water to avoid cross-contamination.
• A quick allergy plan reference guide, for all students with food allergies, will be available for tuckshop staff/volunteers. The school has this information; however, parent permission will be confirmed.

The tuckshop makes every effort to accommodate students with food allergies and minimise risk. Classroom Teachers and Admin are aware of all students with allergies in the school. If your child has a food allergy, and will be using the tuckshop, please take the added measure of contacting our tuckshop convenor, James Fardon 38664333, asap so that every precaution can be taken and a plan put in place to safeguard your child.

BEFORE SCHOOL

Children at school before 8:30am should be enrolled in Helping Hands, our before school care program. Between 8:30am and the first bell students are to sit under the main building where they will be supervised by the school leadership team. This is not a time for play. The school offers no supervision of play areas before or after school and parents are asked to help make our school safe by all students not using play equipment before school.

POLICE LINK: REPORT A ‘HOON’ AROUND OUR SCHOOL AND KEEP OUR KIDS SAFE!

The safety of our children is paramount! I have regularly written about dangerous situations and the illegal use of our pick-up zones by the community members and how antisocial driving behaviour can result in accidents with irreversible consequences. We have seen many examples of ‘near-misses’ on both Harris Street and Constitution Road.

Beyond the leadership we provide from Windsor State School administration and the monitoring by Qld Police, every member of this school community shares a responsibility to monitor the behaviour of other members of this school community. Queensland Police have advised that they rely on the community to assist them with their policing work and will act on notifications from the general public regarding what they call ‘hooning’. They have a “Hoon Online” facility on the Policelink Website.

If you witness any driver of our community illegally using the pick-up zones or driving in an unsafe manner, we invite you to submit a notification online at:

The Policelink website accepts submissions with photos or videos as well, if you happen to have your mobile device at hand (and are not driving at the time!). Your submission can be made anonymously by checking the box on the online form.

You may also notify police by telephone or in person at our local police station – Stafford #33641800

The online form and it takes approximately five minutes to complete.

Just as in the workplace, where all employees share the responsibility for ensuring the safety of themselves and their colleagues by calling out unsafe work practices, all members of the Windsor State School community share a responsibility to ensure the safety of their children and others in the community.

We welcome you to join with us in helping to maintain a safe environment for your children and other parents by reporting any incidences to Policelink. Similarly, if you decide to save a few moments in your day by illegally using the pick-up zone and thereby put the lives of your community members at risk, you may be reported by any member of this community.

If you have any questions about how to use the Policelink website to make a report, please contact Admin.

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

It may only be a few weeks into the school year, but the students of Windsor State School are already hard at work enjoying and improving their writing! To help both engage students in the writing process and develop their writing skills, we use the Seven Steps to Writing Success at WSS. The Seven Steps is a system that chunks writing into seven main techniques. The chunking concept is modelled on the same way we learn another process, like a sport. First, we learn the individual skills, then we practise the skills over and over until the skills move into ‘muscle memory’ and then finally we put the skills together to play a whole game.

It isn’t just about students writing a whole story or writing a whole persuasive text. Rather, the focus is on teaching the chunks, the Seven Steps, for them to then be able to put these together to write a complete text.

Although not necessarily taught in the below order, the Seven Steps are:

1. Plan for Success
2. Sizzling Starts
3. Tightening Tension
4. Dynamic Dialogue
5. Show, Don't Tell
6. Ban the Boring
7. Exciting Endings

Students are invited to apply the Seven Steps to a stimulus provided each week on parade and place their writing in the Writers’ Box outside the office. The first Writers’ Box challenge for the students was to write to the prompt: “I arrived at school for my first day and not a single teacher could be found…” Student entries ranged from very frightening narratives to very funny descriptions. Our winners of the Week 2 Writer’s Box challenge were Suki from Year 2 and Emily from Year 5. Use the links below to read their wonderful writing!

If you would like to know more about each of the Seven Steps to Writing Success, follow the link below for a description of each step.

Roxanne O’Donoghue
A/Deputy Principal

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Queensland School Photography will be taking school photographs on Thursday and Friday this week. Order envelopes have been sent home with each child. Please carefully check the table below for the date your child will be photographed.

Students should wear their correct formal school uniform which is the check shirt or dress, along with black shoes and white socks. They should not be wearing the sports uniform.

To ensure a smooth running day, please note that all photograph orders are pre-paid and payment envelopes must be returned on photograph day only – no exceptions.

Follow these steps to order:

1. Complete student details on the order envelope – one envelope for each child.
2. You may pay by cash, cheque, money order or credit card. If you have two or more children attending you may include the payment in one envelope. Please note clearly on the outside of all envelopes that you have paid in one envelope.
3. Online Orders- visit www.qldschoolphotography.com.au to order. Reference number must be recorded on envelope and handed to photographers.
4. Cheques are to be made payable to Queensland School Photography with your name, address and phone number written on the back.
5. Tick the box for the package required.
6. Enclose the correct payment (change cannot be given).
7. Each student is to hand their individual envelope to the photographer.
8. Parents wanting to have their children photographed together please collect a family envelope from the school office and bring the completed envelope along with your children to the Hall from 7:30am. Please note that if you are ordering sibling photos online, online orders close at 4pm the day before photography. Alternatively, please hand your envelope to the photographer with cash/cheque before school on photo day.

If for any reason you are not satisfied with the photos taken of your child, Queensland School Photography will provide a full refund. Queensland School Photography will accept late orders for individuals and group photographs; however a late fee to cover postage and handling will apply. If you have any questions, or wish to place a late group order, please feel free to contact Queensland School Photography customer service department on 3216 6777.

ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL

This year, Windsor State School has been selected as one of 17 new schools joining Brisbane City Council’s Active School Travel (AST) program.

Active School Travel promotes clean and green, active and healthy school travel modes such as walking, cycling, carpooling and public transport. Over the next three years, our school will receive a range of free resources, tools, incursions to enable active travel to and from school.

By leaving your car at home, at least one day a week on our active travel day, we can reduce traffic congestion at the school gate, improve our students’ road safety awareness, create a cleaner environment, and improve our health and fitness!

The AST Crew will visit our school assembly to launch the Active School Travel program very soon. We strongly encourage you to be part of this great initiative to change our school environment and culture.

Start thinking how you can use your car less travelling to and from school this year.

STUDENT COUNCIL DISCO

The Student Council welcomes everyone back to the New Year with a Disco this Thursday, 16th February, the first Disco for 2017. This Disco helps to raise money to support student council projects at the school, including our World Vision Sponsor Child.

The theme of this disco is: THE COLOURS OF THE KEYS TO SUCCESS! Students are invited to wear any of the colours of the You Can Do It Keys to Success to this term’s disco.

Tickets are available in the Early Years Precinct, before 8:50am Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week ($5.00 single ticket; $10.00 family ticket- 2 or more).

The Disco times are as follows:

Prep-Year 2 5:15pm-6:30pm
Year 3-6 7:00pm-8:30pm

All Prep-Year 2 students must be accompanied by their parent/guardian at all times during the Disco. Parents/Guardians, you are responsible for your own children. Teachers will supervise at the Year 3-6 Disco. Parents are not required to stay at this Disco, but must collect students promptly at 8:30pm. Food and drink will be on sale at the Disco. The DJ will also be selling glow products.

Follow Windsor SS on Facebook & Twitter!

Get the most up-to-date information and school alerts by following Windsor State School on Facebook and Twitter @Windsor_SS

You can also access important school information and alerts, including Facebook/Twitter, via the QSchools app! Download it now and keep informed of everything that is happening at our school.

QParents

Our school also has QParents. Parents will receive an invitation email or letter to register this week. Prep parents will also receive a Student ID card containing an EQ ID number to register.

If you do not receive an invitation (QPAO), please advise Admin asap. QParents is one of the ways we communicate with parents, get on board to enjoy the ease and convenience that QParents offers.

QParents is also the means by which parents access Student Reports. It is important to register now as printed reports are no longer sent home at the end of each Semester. Help us become more ‘paper-less’ by registering for QParents now!

RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR & CODE OF CONDUCT

Pastoral Care: Social Emotional Learning

YCDI is a program that teaches children a number of different skills that they need to be successful and happy, not only at school but during their years in primary, secondary school and beyond. “Successful” means every child doing the best they can. “Happy” suggests children who like themselves and have a good self-esteem, have friends, work hard in learning activities at school, challenge themselves, help others in need, and make school and home a safe and organised place to live and learn. YCDI aims to establish an environment where children will not spend a lot of time feeling extremely sad, worried or angry and will not want to fight with others or spend a lot of time alone and withdrawn from play or work activities.

There are 5 Foundations (5 Keys) that young people need to develop in order to be successful and happy. These are: CONFIDENCE; PERSISTENCE; ORGANISATION; GETTING ALONG AND EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE.

Although these words may seem “very grown up”, especially for Early Childhood, the YCDI program will introduce each Foundation (Key) with a character: Connie Confidence; Pete Persistence; Oscar Organisation; Gabby Get Along and Ricky Resilience. The Foundations (Keys) will also be emphasised in Social Emotional focussed teaching and Pastoral Care, through children’s stories, in creative lessons and activities and in songs. These different components will give your child time to learn about and practise each Foundation (Key) thoroughly. It is important that parents talk to children about the 5 keys and use the language of You Can Do It at home also!!

Our Whole School Responsible Behaviour Plan has been developed around students’ behaviour choices and their commitment to our school rules, beliefs and values (Respect for Self; Respect for Others; Respect for the School). Bronze (C- Satisfactory), Silver (B- often very good), and Gold (A- consistently excellent) levels are achieved when students achieve specific criteria. These criteria are related to the school beliefs and values about RESPECT and the development of the 5 keys to success and happiness, CONFIDENCE; PERSISTENCE; ORGANISATION; GETTING ALONG; RESILIENCE. All students (except Prep) begin on Bronze at the beginning of the year and may apply for Silver (after 4 weeks on Bronze) and Gold (after 6 weeks on Silver) as the year progresses.

Students may progress up, or down, these levels as a result of the choices they make. Again, being a Silver or Gold student reflects an awareness and understanding of our schools’ values and beliefs about Respect and the development of the five foundations. It is the responsibility of each student to follow the process when applying to become a Gold/Silver student. This process includes completing an application, demonstrating that they meet the criteria of behaviours, negotiating with classroom teachers and acquiring the necessary signatures to confirm that they demonstrate each of the criteria. Students in Years 2-6 may begin their applications for Silver in Term 1, Week 5 beginning Monday 20th February 2017. Class Teachers will present and discuss the criteria sheets with students to set goals.

The school acknowledges positive role models of behaviour in many ways throughout the year (merit badges; public acknowledgements). This year, we will celebrate students’ efforts and achievements in class and at special parades throughout the year.

PREP VISION TESTS

Children’s Health Queensland, which is a Queensland public health service for children, is running a new vision screening program for Prep children. A Registered Nurse will be visiting Windsor State School during school hours on 15th – 17th March to provide this free screening service. Good vision is important for children’s educational, physical and social development, so the earlier a problem is detected, the better the treatment outcomes.

All prep parents will receive a Vision Screening & Privacy Consent form next week. The completed form will need to be returned to the office by 20th February.

ROOKIES2REDS

This term, Queensland Rugby is offering the Rookies 2 Reds program Monday afternoons 3.15pm-4.15pm on the Windsor State School bottom oval from the 20th of February to the 20th of March. Download the flyer below for more information about the program and how to register your child.

Master Teacher’s Report

Master Teacher / STLaN Update

Reading

Before school Reading Intervention

Once again, we will be providing our before school reading programs. During week two, a letter will go home to all parents of students being offered places. Please sign and return the forms ASAP, as all programs will begin in Week 3. More information about these programs will be in the next newsletter.

Windsor State School Reading Program

Our reading framework from P-6 engages the Australian Curriculum English and C2C units. We will be continuing and working on the whole school approach to reading, using the Daily 5 structure. The explicit teaching of reading strategies at Windsor SS is by the Literacy CAFÉ strategies.

CAFÉ is an acronym that stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding vocabulary. Reading instruction and practice are structured through the Daily 5 model of focus lessons, Read to Self, Read to Someone and Listen to Reading.

All students at Windsor State School:

• Work with their teachers to set realistic and achievable reading goals
• Know their reading goal/s
• Articulate their reading goals
• Discuss what they are doing to achieve their goal/s
• Have their own reading box filled with a variety of “Good Fit Books”
• Be explicitly taught how to pick “Good Fit Books”

Our Playgroup, the Windsoroos

Welcome back Windsoroos!

At Windsor State School, we are once again very excited about running our Playgroup, the Windsoroos. It is an early years Playgroup, affiliated with Playgroup Queensland, designed to:

• foster parent/carer, child relationships
• provide networking connections

Windsor State School pays the membership fee that covers insurance, however one of the requirements of this, is that each member registers. Forms will be available when you come along. The information will be kept on file and submitted to Playgroup Queensland. Each week we ask for a gold coin donation to cover the costs of consumables.

Our playgroup is for siblings of students at Windsor State School and children, 0 – 5 years, who reside in the Windsor State School catchment.

Parents, carers, children and babies meet together each Friday from 1.30 to 3.00pm in our relaxed Early Years Precinct to share knowledge, seek advice and gain invaluable support. We begin our afternoon in the Helping Hands area under the Constitution building. Helping Hands is our Before and After School Care provider and they support our Windsoroos.

The Playgroup will recommence on Friday, 3rd February, 2017, and will continue to operate in alignment with the school terms.

2017 Timetable for the Windsoroos:

The Windsoroos Playgroup runs in conjunction with our extended play for Prep every Friday afternoon. After lunch every Friday, the extended play for Preps will provide a powerful context in which the children will learn as they actively engage socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually with people and the environment. During the play sessions, children will take on the roles of co-player, observer, listener, initiator, responder, facilitator, questioner, scaffolder, modeller, challenger or mediator.

Our extended play will cater for the following types of play.

As the Early Years precinct will be a learning and teaching environment every Friday afternoon, we ask that all parents, carers and children respect the students, teachers and the young Windsoroos and stay away from the Early Years Playground. Please wait under the buildings or the meeting place until the 3pm.

For more information about our playgroup, please click on the attachment below.

We look forward to having fun and growing with you and your child/children at the Windsoroos Playgroup.

ENRICHMENT 2017

Hello there

I have had many parent enquiries regarding the Enrichment and Extension Program so I have attached a document with the 2017 programs to this newsletter. Please understand that programs change and new programs become available at quite short notice.

Warm regards

Emma