16 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

Across the Principal’s Desk…

New Parade Time

Next Monday (21 August) is the annual ‘Book Week Character Parade’ which will commence at 9am. Therefore, our weekly afternoon parades (2pm) will commence as of Week 8 (Monday 28 August).

I would like to thank the families who offered their feedback around the new parade times and appreciate their suggestions and ideas. As I mentioned in the last newsletter with the current parade timeslot, the majority of Monday morning ‘prime teaching and learning time’ is lost as students are not returning to class until approximately 10am. Moving the parade to the afternoon will allow students to engage in key learning right from the start of the day, when students are most cognitively alert. Our Strings Orchestra will still perform at the afternoon parade which all students thoroughly enjoy.

Both the Leadership Team and Teaching Staff understand that a number of parents/community members attend the morning parade before heading off to work. However, as I am sure you will agree with, finding a day and time that suits everyone would be very challenging. As a school, we need to prioritise ‘prime learning time’ with the morning sessions used primarily for the teaching of Literacy and Numeracy – which are the foundations to all learning and included in our Strategic Plan.

In moving the time, we have discussed that awards and certificates will be handed out towards the end of parade, allowing parents and community members to attend (if possible) closer to ‘pick up’ time. I understand that this is a change to our school routine, but please be reassured that the decision was made to increase the optimal teaching and learning time for all students. It is important to note that any special ‘whole school’ parades i.e. ACE Awards and Leadership badge ceremonies etc will be held in the morning to ensure we celebrate and acknowledge these special milestones as a school community.

The Learning Pit

One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is the ability to feel ‘uncomfortable’ in their learning, whether it be at school, home or in any social situation. What we tend to want to do for our children is to shield them from the pain of struggling, to make things that bit easier and in some cases remove all barriers so they pretty much have an easy ride through school and life. Is this the reality of the world and what we experience in society and work? Most certainly not. We have all had to struggle in some way to get where we are and finding ourselves in the ‘learning pit’ is absolutely a critical aspect of our own character development.

At Windsor we absolutely want students to experience challenges, struggles and for want of a better word ‘failure’, as through this comes new learning and growth on so many different levels. Talking to your children about being in the ‘learning pit’ and using this model for almost any aspect of their development reaps enormous rewards when you are confronted with them ‘giving up’ or demanding that you do it for them. I explicitly addressed this concept with the whole staff when I arrived at Windsor in Term 2. It is just as important for teachers and support staff to be in the ‘learning pit’ with their teaching and classroom support practices as this is where we learn as practitioners. It is crucial that we operate within a ‘fail safe’ environment for both students and staff members to make mistakes without the fear of failure and where learning flourishes each and every day.

We all simply want the best for our children, yet sometimes we are actually our own worst enemy, thinking that if we are like the team sport of ‘curling’ where the competitors brush the ice away to make a smooth path for the curling stone, doing the same for our children metaphorically speaking, we can actually deskill them significantly in how they navigate life’s complexities and challenges. Using every situation that comes before a child as a potential learning opportunity can be time consuming and arduous, yet the children I have seen who are adept with understanding how to problem solve are often the most resilient when they move on to more complex situations like high school, university and the workforce.

Thanks to the many parents who view challenges and sometimes difficult situations as learning opportunities. Being a parent is not about being your child’s best friend. It is not an easy role, but it is full of great rewards when you have helped them to navigate life’s challenges by being their ‘guide on the side’.

Illness

We have many children, staff and families who are unwell at the moment. Some classes have even had up to 12 students absent in a day. I am encouraging families to keep children who are unwell at home until they are better. Please take care of yourself and your families!

Grant Baker

From the Deputy Principal…

ENROL NOW FOR PREP 2018!

Have you got a child born between 1 July 2012 and 30/6/2013? Enrol them now for Prep!

As our school is officially at capacity, our Enrolment Management Plan must be totally enforced. We can only offer places to students in our catchment area.

Places in Prep for 2018 are limited to 100 students, unless more students live in our catchment area. We no longer provide students in the Lutwyche Gordon Park area with guaranteed enrolment. Please check that you are in our school catchment online, at the link below

I ask all parents currently at the school with siblings due to start school in 2018 to ensure enrolment forms are completed as soon as possible.

Team Eloise – Wear Pink on Friday 25th August

Our fabulous staff at Windsor State School are once again showing their support and getting behind the Eloise Gannon Foundation and joining Team Eloise in the 2017 Bridge to Brisbane (B2B) on Sunday, 27th August. For those of you that aren’t aware, Eloise is the daughter of Nikki Gannon one of our administration team. The Foundation was founded to honour the memory of Eloise Gannon who, at 15, died unexpectedly due to a cardiac arrhythmia. One of the Foundation’s main goals is to raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Death in our youth. For more information regarding The Foundation and their objectives please visit the link below.

On Friday 25th of August, the Windsor School Community will also have an opportunity to show their support. We will be having a WEAR PINK day, with a gold coin donation. There will also be the opportunity to purchase some TEAM ELOISE items. If you would like to pre-order, please complete the form and return, with payment to the office. All pre-orders will be available for collection on Friday 25th August or alternatively, if you would like to make a donation and support Team Eloise for the B2B please visit the link below.

Book Week Character Parade

This Monday is our Book Week Character parade! All students are invited to come to school dressed as a character from a book. This year’s theme is ‘Escape to Everywhere’. Windsor State School Book week competition winners will be announced at this parade.

NAIDOC Week

As NAIDOC Week was during the school holidays, we will be celebrating NAIDOC Week at Windsor State School in Week 8 this term. Parents and families are invited to attend a special NAIDOC Week parade on Monday 28th of August at 2.00pm. During the week, special guests will be visiting the school as part of our NAIDOC Celebrations. Our student NAIDOC Ambassadors, Marly and Reshaei, will assist with the organisation and facilitation of our NAIDOC Week celebrations.

Lucas Proudfoot from Circular Rhythm will perform for our Year 3 students, covering diversity throughout Aboriginal Australia. Another visitor to our school, Derek Oram, will engage our Year 4 students in cultural sessions that complement the current Year 4 Science unit. Also during the week, all students have the opportunity to engage with a variety of texts during their literacy experiences that highlight our NAIDOC celebrations.

Thank you to Gregg Dreise for visiting our school last week for our Prep –Year 2 author visit. Gregg is an author, illustrator, teacher and descendent of the Kamilaroi and Yuwaalaraay people. His books ‘Silly Birds’, ‘Kookoo Kookaburra’ and ‘Mad Magpie’ are humble, charming and quintessentially Australian fables.

Family Education Programs – ALL FULLY BOOKED

Please find below information about the remaining 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 29 August 2017, 6:00-7:30pm – Family Education – Introduction to reproduction (recommended for Year 6)

All of these sessions are now fully booked with a current waitlist. If you have indicated that you will be attending, but will be unable to make it, please advise the office as soon as possible so that your place can be offered to a family on the waitlist.

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 at the link below.

School Opinion Survey

The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted 31 July to 25 August 2017. All families, school staff and a random sample of students will be invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what this school does well, and how this school can improve.

This fortnight, access details for the Parent/Caregiver Survey will be sent home with students. School computers will be available, upon request, for parents/caregivers who are unable to complete the survey at home.

Survey queries or requests for translations can be directed to admin@windsorss.eq.edu.au or (07) 3866 4333.

RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR & CODE OF CONDUCT

How do I talk to my children? Put on your listening ears

For more information and resources on positive and effective parenting, visit:

Active School Travel

The weather is perfect so grab your scooters (and helmets) on Wednesdays and let's win the Golden Boot trophy for the highest percentage of children scootering to school during the month of August! This trophy is awarded across all Active School Travel Schools in Brisbane. If you don't live close enough, park away from the school and scooter the rest of the way.

Every family has received a Windsor State School Active School Travel Map. This map shows different Active School Travel routes, bikeways, crossings and more! There are also suggested routes where you can park outside the 6-8 minute walk radius from the school gate and walk or ride the final part of your journey. Part way is okay! You can download a copy of the map below. This map makes it easy to for parents, students and staff to find their best walking, riding or public transport route to school. Families may also like to use the map on the weekend to re-discover the local area.

Jump Rope for Heart

Windsor State School is participating in the Heart Foundation Jump Rope for Heart program and we would love your support! The House Captains, together with the support of the Student Council, are running this exciting initiative. Heart Foundation Jump Rope for Heart is an exciting and non-competitive program which encourages children to become more active through skipping, learning new skills and raising vital funds for heart research and community health programs. We also receive 10 per cent of the funds raised to use here at school. Jump Rope for Heart is also a great way to encourage children to get involved in our community and support Australia’s leading heart health charity, the Heart Foundation.

If you choose to register your child online, a secure fundraising page will be created as soon as you register, and you can then share this link with as many people as possible. This is an easy, safe way for your child to monitor their progress, receive bonus prizes and even receive sponsorship from family and friends who are further afield. Please be mindful of Cyber Safety when setting up your child’s registration page. For example, you do not need to display full name/s or photos on your child’s sponsorship page.

As students raise money, they not only help support the Heart Foundation and the school, but they are also rewarded with exciting Thank You Prizes! These include skipping ropes, soccer balls and even trampolines and flying cars! Thank you for joining us in the fight against heart disease!

The list of Thank You Prizes can be viewed at the link below.

PACER – Canberra Trip

Our Year 6 students are currently undertaking an education tour of the national capital, Canberra. The students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. This includes visiting Parliament House, Old Parliament House, the Australian War Memorial, the National Archives and more!

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 $60 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.

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!

Master Teacher’s Report

Master Teacher / STLaN Update

Age Appropriate Pedagogies

Lately, there have been many stories in the media about how young children learn. Age Appropriate Pedagogies is a term frequently used.

What are Age Appropriate Pedagogies?

• The approaches teachers use to deliver the curriculum.

There are many different approaches:

• Inquiry learning
• Event-based
• Project
• Explicit instruction
• Play-based learning
• Direct teaching instruction
• Blended

The characteristics of effective pedagogies:

• Active
• Agentic
• Collaborative
• Creative
• Explicit
• Language rich and dialogic
• Learner focused
• Narrative
• Playful
• Responsive
• Scaffolded

By using age-appropriate pedagogies in the early years of schooling, we are supporting children to be actively engaged, creative and successful learners.

After school last Tuesday, the Prep teachers and I attended a Professional Development Session on being Collaborative in classrooms. Being collaborative means that children and educators work together to identify ways of learning and understanding through sustained shared thinking and action.

Research states that "Social interaction and collaborative activity among children in class can provide valuable, complementary and distinctive opportunities for learning and conceptual development".

In a collaborative classroom,

Being collaborative is one of the characteristics WSS Prep teachers are working on to engage their young students.

Reading: MiniLit Literacy Intervention Program

Our MiniLit Intervention program for years one and two began last week. The chosen students have been working in small groups of four or five with a teacher aide, four times per week.

Next Monday 21st August 2017, there will be two Parent Information sessions for parents of students participating in the program.

• 4:00pm – 5:00pm
• 5:30pm – 6:30pm

These sessions will be held in the school library. If you have not confirmed your attendance, please contact me ASAP.

Before school Reading Intervention

Below is the timetable for the before school reading programs currently running. At the moment, we do not have any vacancies.

MiniLit Literacy Intervention has taken the place of the phonological awareness and support-a-reader programs for year one students.

Please note that Shooting Stars will now be held in my office from 8:30am – 9:00am.

Our Playgroup, the Windsoroos

Last Friday, the Windsoroos joined Prep C, Prep D and 2D in the library to listen to author and illustrator, Gregg Dreise. His books include Silly Birds and Kookoo kookaburra. He also did the illustrations for Tiddalik the Frog.

Gregg actively engaged and entertained the students with his humour, story-telling, games, songs, didgeridoo and clapping sticks.

This week the Windsoroos will continue to explore Gregg Dreise’s books and Aboriginal Art.

2017 Timetable for the Windsoroos:

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.

Innovators of Tomorrow Program…

Only a few sleeps until Windsor launches the much anticipated “Innovators of Tomorrow”. Please find attached the flyer with all you need to know: Programs, locations, times, and which fabulous teacher is running the program. On that note, a big thank you must be given to Mr Fenton, Mrs Milner, Mrs Vincent, Mrs O’Donoghue, Mr Baker, Mrs Robertson, Mr Napier and Ms O’Brien for giving up their time to implement these exciting workshops.

As Mr Baker’s email said, Wednesday’s groups for this week only will held on Thursday 2nd Break.

• Mrs Milner will run the Wednesday Dash Club in the Library,
• Mr Fenton will run the Wednesday Moonhack/Scratch Jnr Club in the Computer Lab,
• Mrs Kemph will run the Wednesday EngQUEST Club from her room in A Block, and
• Mrs Vincent will run the Wednesday Sphero Club in the Hall.

On Thursday afternoon the children are to bring a light afternoon tea and assemble in the quadrangle. From here they will be taken to where they need to go by their program teacher.

• Mrs O’Donoghue will run the Thursday Dash Club in 2D,
• Mr Fenton will run the Thursday Moonhack/Scratch Club in the Computer Lab,
• Mr Baker will run the Thursday Club Kidpreneur from the library
• Mrs Robertson will run the Thursday BeeBot Club in the Hall.

I look forward to seeing the action this week and in the weeks to come.

Happy Days!

Emma Kemph

School Banking Update-

The yearly Australia wide competition is now on for all school bankers. Bank at school at least 3 times between 14 August and 10 November for the chance to win some high tech prizes. Remember banking is every Tuesday so fill out the deposit slip and give it to the classroom teacher. A Youthsaver Commonwealth bank account is required to do school banking which can be opened at any branch with a birth certificate. For every 10 bankings at school a reward can be claimed.

School banking is a P&C fundraiser with commissions paid by the bank (not taken from your child’s money!).

Munch Monitor Ordering Reminder

We’re very lucky to have such a user-friendly ordering system for our school tuck shop

But even the best of us can have parenting fails. I should know, I’ve made this Munch Monitor ordering mistake myself…

When you place an order – other than an everyday meal deal – you need to ensure you submit the order for each break separately.

That is: Click the Submit button once after first break selection and click the Submit button again after your second break selection. Sounds obvious. However, we do get the odd missed lunch.

While we make every effort to ensure that every child has lunch at WSS, and if something is missing their teacher will take them to the school administration and you will receive a phone call. But your child may miss out on their preferred selection due to what has been prepped for the day’s orders.

Any queries, please contact retail@windsorsspandc.com.au

Thank you for your support

Georgia Limmer, Retail Subcommittee

Uniform shop co-convenor position

Do you have a passion for retail? An interest in school uniforms including ordering and supplier liaison and assisting new families to find the right items in our beautifully organised uniform shop? Are you looking for some regular paid hours and a way to regularly volunteer for our school community?

Then we have the position for you. Windsor State School is looking for a Uniform Shop Co-convenor to work alongside our current Convenor with the idea of taking over the role as Uniform Shop Convenor in 2018.

If this is something you are interested in and you have a current Blue Card or willingness to obtain a Blue Card, are an Australian resident and are ready to start asap, please contact Georgia Limmer on retail@windsorsspandc.com.au so we can arrange an interview.

• Open 4 hours per fortnight. Two hours paid per week, some volunteer hours are required.
• Manage a volunteer ‘call out’ for peak times i.e. prep transition day
• Hours increasing in 2018