22 June 2017

Newsletter Articles

Across the Principal’s Desk…

Our iPad Bring Your Own (BYO) device program is coming....

I am pleased to share some exciting news with you. From mid Term 3, we will be introducing a Pilot BYO program across all Year 4 classes, whereby these students will be invited to voluntarily bring an iPad to school to use as their own personal learning device. A letter will be emailed home to all Year 4 families this week explaining the program and providing a link to our iPad BYO Program information booklet. The initial Year 4 Pilot program is not only an opportunity to enhance and upscale innovative teaching and learning opportunities for students, but also to ensure that the school network and infrastructure is able to manage increased demand as the iPad program develops and evolves each year.

The Year 4 implementation timeline

• Term 3, Week 1 (Friday 14th July) – Expression of Interest closes.
• Term 3, Week 1 – Year 4 ‘Celebration of Learning’ (invitation already emailed home).
• Term 3, Week 3 (Thursday 27th July, 7.30-8.30pm) – Parent information session.
• Term 3, Week 5 (week beginning Monday 7th August) – students can bring their devices to school.

The strategic future rollout of our BYO iPad Program

• From mid Term 3, 2017 – Year 4 Pilot iPad program
• 2018 – Year 4 and 5 iPad program
• 2019 – Year 4, 5 and 6 iPad program

Developing our iPad program

In 2016, the iPad was chosen as the preferred device due to its flexibility, mobility and capacity to easily connect with the DET network. The School leadership team and eLearning committee have undertaken extensive research in the area of BYO mobile device programs. This has involved networking with schools and educators across Australia who have successfully implemented BYO iPad programs. Additionally, our ongoing professional learning experiences have deepened our knowledge and understanding of how mobile technology can be effectively used to enrich, enhance and transform learning and teaching.

All students in Australia are expected to develop  ICT General Capabilities  throughout their schooling as mandated by the Australian Curriculum (ACARA). “The integration of a wide range of ICTs and  Digital Technologies  into the classroom to enhance learning outcomes for students” was a priority area, identified by the community, in our  2016-2019 Windsor SS Strategic Plan . The long-term goal being the full implementation of a Bring Your Own iPad (BYOiPad) program by 2019 across Years 4, 5 and 6. Similar programs have already been fully implemented in many other state schools to coincide with full implementation of the Australian Curriculum in 2020. Unfortunately, due the storm of 2014, we have been unable to implement this program any sooner.

Planning for our iPad program

In preparation for this new way of working, the school has undertaken significant upgrades to connectivity (i.e. $65,000 to upgrade wireless capabilities, increased bandwidth speed); hardware ($40,000 laptops; $90,000 iPads, robotics etc.) and continued professional development to prepare staff to successfully implement iPads and other technologies in their classrooms. Currently, all classes in the school have a pod of 5x iPads, shared across the year level, thanks to our P&C Association’s donation in 2016. As a result of this commitment and investment towards the school network environment, we are now in the position where we can initially invite all Year 4 families to participate in the Pilot BYO iPad program, on a voluntary basis, commencing mid-way through next term.

More information

To support families with our BYO initiative, we have developed a detailed information booklet, which I encourage all families to access and read through. I will provide the link to this resource for our school community, once it is finalised and made available on our school website. Further information sessions for families will be offered next semester.

Windsor State School is fully committed to providing technology rich learning environments to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary skills to be successful citizens of the future. We thank our School Council who have supported and endorsed our school’s directions with this initiative.

A message from Mr. Keong

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge and thank Mr. Keong for everything he has done for Windsor State School over the past 8 years. I would also like to thank him for the outstanding professionalism and support he has shown me over the past 10 weeks. I know you will wish him the very best of luck for his new endeavour and I’m sure it won’t be too long until we see him again, I have included Mr. Keong's email below if you have not yet seen the 'newsflash' from yesterday.

It's the last week of Term 2 and currently, I am enjoying some long service leave leading into the school holidays next week.

Last week, I was approached by the Assistant Regional Director and asked to take up the position of Principal, Mitchelton State School for the remainder of the year. After serious thought and consideration, I have decided to accept this new and challenging professional opportunity after almost eight years at Windsor State School.

It is rarely easy to ascertain where change may lead in the future. Therefore, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Windsor students, staff and community for your support and friendship over the years.

Mrs. Roxanne O'Donoghue will again assume the role of Deputy Principal throughout my absence.

I wish the entire Windsor community all the very best for a relaxing holiday and hope everyone is able to enjoy some leisure time with family and friends.

Federal Funding - Gonski 2.0

You will undoubtedly have seen the media reports regarding the federal funding deal for schools and the increase of an annual 4.9% each year over the next 10 years. Recently, along with other state and private school principals, I met with the Federal Education Minster Senator Simon Birmingham at a roundtable event, to discuss the new funding model. It was a very informative and productive meeting. The new funding model will replace the 27 individual agreements across the country to deliver a consistent model of funding.

At this stage, the funding from the federal government based on the online calculator provided to schools around the country, is $2210 per student for Windsor in 2018. What you need to understand is that this is not the amount which we will receive directly as a school. The calculator is available for public viewing and can be found at the link below.

The funds are not paid directly to the school, rather they go to the ‘system’ which in our case is Education Queensland and they determine what each school will receive based on needs. Therefore the allocation of federal funding is not in the control of each individual school within state education.

I am of the understanding that since this announcement, the Queensland Education Minister, Ms Kate Jones has confirmed that in 2018, state schools will still receive their current funding with a modest increase only. It seems that our feedback, during the roundtable, imploring them to increase or at the very least continue the funding which has increased over the past four years to schools, has been taken on board.

Whilst the funding Windsor receives is never what we would like it to be, hopefully there will be a review at the state government level to see greater funding afforded to schools from the federal initiative.

Safe Holidays!

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for a wonderful term and indeed my first 10 weeks at Windsor. Your support and interest in your child’s education is to be commended and we value it greatly, as we work in partnership to offer the best we can for the children at Windsor. I am always heartened by the level of engagement and the fact that you honour the work undertaken by the teachers as professionals, taking their advice and guidance on where to next for your child’s learning. To me, the parents at Windsor approach their child’s education with great respect for the work teachers do every day! So thank you for your ongoing support and advocacy.

Have a great last week and I look forward to seeing you once again next term.

from the Deputy Principal…

Athletics Carnivals

This week, the Prep-Year 2 students participated in their Athletics Carnival. It was a very successful day and the students demonstrated great sportsmanship. It was wonderful to have so many parent spectators on the day. A big thank you also goes to the parents who helped prepare the sausage sizzle.

On Wednesday 21 June and Thursday 22 June, we will also be holding our Year 3-6 Annual Athletics Carnival as part of our Physical Education Program. Students will be involved in both track and field events. The Carnival aims to increase children’s skills, develop team work and enhance our school culture.

Year 3-6 students will be walking, with staff, to and from Windsor Park, Grafton Street, Windsor on both days. Parents may take children home directly from the park after signing them out with the class teacher. Students must wear House Sports Shirt, School Pants, Joggers and School Hat. It is important that everyone bring a water bottle and apply their own sunscreen before school. There will be frequent reminders to reapply throughout the day. Students are required to bring their own lunch; tuckshop may be ordered and will be delivered to Windsor Park.

All Year 3-6 permission forms must be returned. No child can attend without returning the consent form as we are leaving the school grounds.

ACE Awards

On Monday, we recognised and celebrated the outstanding efforts of students who have displayed exceptional commitment to learning and our school values. Our ACE awards recognise students’ efforts and encourage all students to strive to do their best. Congratulations to the following students who received an ACE award.

Report Cards

Semester one Report Cards will be emailed home on Friday July 14, the end of the first week of Term Three. There will be no printed report cards provided to parents unless requested at Admin. These reports may be followed up with a parent teacher interview later in term three. Please be aware that parents may see a teacher at any time about their child’s progress by making an appointment, with your class teacher, at an agreeable time.

During Term 1 and 2, teachers collected and moderated evidence to make overall judgements in order to award final ratings on the end of Semester 1 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 in Semester 1, these subjects include English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Civics & Citizenship, Economics & Business, Music, HPE and Design & Technologies. The Achievement Standards relate directly to content/skills that have been taught and assessed during the Semester 1 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.

RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR & CODE OF CONDUCT

We know that there are two dimensions of social and emotional development, positive and negative. A negative mindset acts as a barrier to positive outcomes and consists of the blockers, outlined below. Sometimes our emotions can be overwhelmingly powerful and these negative blockers can lead to behavioural, emotional and learning problems in children. Our major goal is to weaken negative Habits of the Mind and offer students coping skills and strategies to eliminate the Blockers. We want to strengthen the positive Habits of the Minds, at the same time, and provide students with knowledge and skills to develop the 5 keys to success.

Anger - (like Angry Annie)

Angry Annie breaks the rules whenever she wants to, but she expects other kids to treat her with respect. When things don’t go her way she stamps her foot and screams and yells. Annie hasn’t learned any ways to calm herself down and not get so angry.

Anger is a Blocker that stops people from solving problems and can lead to unhappiness. At school and at home, we can think about ways to combat Blockers. As parents and teachers, we can help alert students to when Blockers may be getting in the way. We can talk about times that Anger can be a Blocker, and then discuss strategies that can be used to help calm us down when we feel ourselves becoming angry.

Check out the video “Mojo meets the Beast” https://ideas.classdojo.com/f/the-beast. Despite the videos being an American context, it provides another resource to spark discussion, with parents and teachers, around strategies to deal with negative “blocker” thinking. When children can understand, identify and realise that strong emotions are a normal part of life they will be able to develop the mindset and skillset to manage these and bounce back.

Family Education Programs

Please find below information about Family Education Programs that are being facilitated in the school Hall during Term 3. These family sessions will take place on the following dates and will cover:

Tuesday 18 July 2017, 6:00-7:30pm – Family Education – Bodies and feeling safe (recommended for Year 4)

Tuesday 1 August 2017, 6:00-7:30pm – Family Education – Preparing for puberty (recommended for Year 5)

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 6:00-7:30pm – Family Education –Introduction to reproduction (recommended for Year 6)

True Relationships and Reproductive Health (True), formerly known as Family Planning Queensland, delivers family education sessions that are aimed at developing open and healthy communication about relationships and sexuality between parents/carers and children. These sessions provide age appropriate information to help build children’s self-esteem. The purpose of these sessions is to facilitate open communication about sexuality between you and your children. ‘Bodies and feeling safe’ covers topics such as naming reproductive body parts, public and private and personal safety. ‘Preparing for Puberty’ is designed to encourage communication about male and female body parts, and discuss the various physical, social and emotional changes that occur during puberty. ‘Introduction to Reproduction’ also includes discussion about fertilisation, pregnancy and birth.

All sessions are provided by trained experts and are designed to cater for specific ages and year levels. However, if you would prefer your child to attend a session that is suggested for a year level other than their own, you are able to register for that session.

There are limited spaces available for these sessions so please indicate as soon as possible your intention to attend. The cost will be $17 per student. Please complete the ‘Intention to Attend’ form that has been sent home and return to the school office as soon as possible, as we only have 30 spaces per session available. An invoice for $17.00 will then be issued to those who returned the first 30 ‘Intention to Attend’ forms.

If you have any questions please contact me at the school or contact True Relationships and Reproductive Health directly on 3250 0240 or check out their website below

Active School Travel

This term, the Active School Travel’s larger than life AST Crew visited our school our school. While they were here, the AST Crew reminded students, teachers and parents how to safely cross the road. The Crew’s four steps to safely cross the road are:

STOP - at least one metre from the kerb
LOOK - right, left and right again
LISTEN – for the sound of close traffic
THINK – is it safe to cross and am I holding and adult’s hand?

Parents, please practise these steps with your children EVERYTIME you cross the road.

As adults, we lead by example so it’s essential that we do the right thing when we cross the road. This year, everyone will have more opportunities to practise their road crossing skills when they leave the car at home and actively travel to and from school.

Remember: Driveways can be dangerous places. Make sure your children stop, look, listen and think before crossing a driveway.

Crossing Supervisors

Windsor's school crossing supervisors do an amazing job of ensuring that our children and extended family members get across the roads to school safely. There have been a couple of occasions recently where a degree of respect has not been afforded to them in terms of how they have been communicated with and following their instructions on the crossing. Please note that they have full control over the crossing when they are present and must be listened to in terms of their instructions - including illegal parking behaviour. They are not actually employed by the school, rather by QLD Transport, so if you have an issue with their behaviour in any way, please make contact with the road safety department of QLD Transport for any issues or clarification regarding their role or responsibility when on duty.

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…please get on board!

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!

Chess

Windsor's Chess students have had great success at the recent North Brisbane Inter-School competition. The team of Henry C, Euan B, Sam W and Zac S finished 3rd out of the 26 teams in their division. Individually Euan and Henry received merit ribbons for winning 4.5 and 5 games out of 7 respectively. Competing in the A Grade, against some very tough opponents, Archie L won 7 games out of 7 and finished 1st out of 57 students. Congratulations to all the boys. The Chess Club meets on Thursday afternoons for any students interested in joining in Term 3.

Windsor 1 - A Grade

Archie L - 7/7 - 1st /57

Windsor 2 - C Grade - 3rd/ 26 teams

Henry C - 5/7 - 14th/89
Euan B - 4.5/7 - 16th/89
Sam W - 4/7 -
Zac S - 3/7

Calling all young artists!

Children aged between 5 and 18 years are encouraged to share their voices and submit a piece of art celebrating ‘What does safety, love, joy, hope, trust and family look like to you?’

Selected artwork will be showcased in the Queensland Family and Child Commission’s Hear Me, See Me Art Exhibition during Child Protection Week in September.

Please encourage your child to put on their thinking cap and get creative! Entry is free and closes 23 July 2017. For more information visit the link below.

Pam Godfrey
Teacher Librarian