3 April 2019

Newsletter Articles

Across the Principal's Desk...

Goodbye Mrs O'Donoghue and Good Luck!

On behalf of the staff and entire school community, I would like to wish Mrs Roxanne O'Donoghue and her husband Liam all the very best for the pending arrival of their first baby. Ms Amber Canestrini will commence as Yr3-6 A/Deputy Principal from Term 2 while Mrs O'Donoghue is on 12 months maternity leave. We will be sure to inform the school community once we hear any baby news from Roxie!

Sports Singlet Sponsorship

Thank you to the number of parents and local business that made contact with me over the past week about sponsoring our new District sports singlets (see example image below). I am proud to announce that our very own Outside School Hours Care providers, Helping Hands, along with the local Bank of Queensland branch at Windsor HomeZone have both kindly donated $1000 each to support this initiative. We thank them for their tremendous support and look forward to acknowledging them at a school parade early next term once the singlets arrive.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Thank you for your attendance and participation in our recent Parent-Teacher interviews. These conversations are crucial in establishing productive working relationships between school and home. As always, if you have any concerns or queries throughout the year, your classroom teacher should be your first point of contact. To ensure successful outcomes, it is important that there is strong, positive communication between Teachers-Parents-Students.

P&C AGM- Executive and Subcommittees

The P&C AGM was held recently with a mixture of continuing and new executives elected into key positions. It was great to see so many parents in attendance and I look forward to similar numbers at our regular meetings.

The following parents were elected to the positions –

President – Craig Thompson (continuing)
Vice President (Communications) – Tracy Mills (continuing)
Vice President (Operations) - Rebecca Tuplin
Vice President P-2 - Kate Bruce (continuing)
Vice President 3-6 - Marissa Allan (continuing)
Secretary – Delwin Tofts
Treasurer – Kirsten Tengbom (continuing)

We wish them all the best in their new and continuing roles.

I would like to personally thank the outgoing executive Jen Allan (Secretary) for her commitment, support and guidance of the school community over a number of years.

Our executive teams have provided measured, consistent and very careful stewardship to the school community through the P&C. What makes a team in any context very functional and effective is consistency of their term in office, being measured, remembering that it isn’t about positional power, but about what will benefit the whole school. Our P&C continue to take into account that the teachers and staff are the ones who work in this space and require the most support to their job to the best of their ability.

They remember all along that there are numerous additional activities, which staff only undertake out of professional and personal pride and dedication. Activities such as camps, excursions, interschool sport, run clubs among so many other tasks, which are not in any way part of the teacher’s award conditions, but are undertaken because they have the support in classrooms with additional teacher aide time, parental engagement and the necessary funding to do their job. It’s a partnership and one that I can only say has been strong and successful over many years. This does not just apply to the P&C Executive, but the entire group of members across the school and every parent who puts back into the school in some way. This may be through classroom assistance, tuckshop rosters, transporting students to events, the Windsor Fest and many other social events.

I'm looking forward to continuing our work together this year in delivering the best possible outcomes for all students.

School Advisory Council (SAC)

At the P&C AGM, this night also saw a special General Meeting held for the election of a parent representative position.

Congratulations to Mrs Tracy Mills who was elected as a Parent Rep for the SAC.

I would like to thank the outgoing inaugural parent representative, Mr Lee Davies (chairperson) for his dedication and commitment to the council. Lee was instrumental in the development of our Strategic Plan 2016-2019 and Annual Implementation Plans over the past four years. I look forward to working with a new SAC over the next two years.

The SAC has been in existence since we became an Independent Public School in 2013. The group which is made up of the P&C President, two parents, Principal and three staff representatives (teaching and non-teaching), meets for 1.5hrs each month. It has an advisory function, in terms of assisting with strategic planning for the school overall, based on the direction indicated by the school leadership team, the staff and the school community. It is not a decision making body, rather it offers advice to the leadership team and staff regarding ‘big picture’ strategic plans and anything the Principal deems important to consult on.

State Swimming Championships

Caitlyn Haynes (Year 4) was nominated in 3 events – 50m Butterfly, 50m Breaststroke & 100m Breaststroke. She made the final in all 3 events and swam best times in all races. She came 6th in the 50m Butterfly, 7th in 50m Breaststroke and 9th in 100m Breaststroke. Congratulations Caitlyn and Well done!!

Thank-you Windsor Helpers

As we enter the last week of Term One I would like to thank those who so willingly give of their time to help make Windsor a wonderful place to be. We have parents who assist with reading and learning activities, swimming lessons, tuckshop, uniform, P&C Association, P&C subcommittees, Parent Reps and many others who contribute to make our school, a wonderful school.

We can sometimes not fully appreciate the role that the above community members play. Many, if not all roles, are undertaken in a voluntary capacity. I strongly encourage the school community to take the time to say thank-you to these helpers. Thank-you to all those who have helped in any way throughout Term One and thank-you to those who appreciate the great work of our school community helpers of Windsor.

Starting Date Term Two

Parents are reminded that school resumes for Term Two on Tuesday 23 April. Please ensure that you read our school newsletter, access our website or the Schoolzine App to keep abreast of the various events that will take place in Term Two.

Keep Watch on our School these Holidays

With the holidays fast approaching, we need you to look out for after-hours crime in our school. If you see anything suspicious, please call School Watch on 13 17 88.

The School Watch program is a partnership between the Department of Education, Queensland Police Service and the State Government Protective Security Service. It aims to reduce vandalism, theft and arson in Queensland schools. If you do see something suspicious, please don’t attempt to intervene. Call the School Watch number and let the local police or State Government Protective Security Service deal with the matter. Keep the number handy—13 17 88—and let’s work together to help create a safer school community.

Free Dress Day – Friday 5 April – Gold Coin Donation

Please remember that Friday will be Free Dress day. Please bring a gold coin donation. All proceeds will go towards the Student Council charity, “Homeless Connect”.

Happy Holidays

I would like to wish all families a safe and enjoyable Easter holiday.

Term One has been a very busy and hectic term with the students participating in many learning activities throughout the 10 weeks. I have been impressed with the way in which our students make the most of the opportunities presented to them. I am sure that they too are looking forward to a well-earned break.

Grant Baker
Principal

From the Deputy Principal’s Desks…

CROSS COUNTRY

The Windsor State School Cross Country will be held on Wednesday 3rd April 2019. The longer races will take place earlier in the day, with the results of these races used to determine the school team for City District trials. The Prep –Year 2 students will join the Cross Country Carnival after first break for their shorter, fun events.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

Presentation of awards and trophies will immediately follow the completion of the cross-country.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL CHILDREN HAVE MORNING TEA, LUNCH, A WATER BOTTLE, A HAT AND SUNSCREEN (ALREADY APPLIED) FOR CROSS COUNTRY DAY.

CHILDREN ARE TO WEAR THEIR HOUSE SHIRT ON CROSS COUNTRY DAY.

EASTER HAT PARADE…this Friday 5th April!

This Friday, 5th April, we will be celebrating the end of term with some fun at the annual P-2 Easter Hat Parade. At this parade, it will be time for a special bunny to visit the school.

This year, the children from Prep to Year 2 are invited to participate in the parade on this morning. The Easter Hat Parade will begin at 9:15am, will be held in the Hall, and will be finished by approximately 10:15am. Parents, family and friends are welcome to attend. The coffee van will be on site. The parade will feature songs as well as a procession of fabulous bonnet creations.

The bonnets are to be made at home. Parents are asked to help their child make these bonnets at home. Parents who intend to take children home after this parade, to get away early for holidays, must ensure that children are signed out with their class teachers before leaving the school grounds.

We look forward to seeing you all there to help us celebrate the end of a fantastic term.

YEARS 3-6 TRACK & FIELD CARNIVAL

This year, our school Year 3-6 Track and Field Carnival days are earlier due to a change in national and state carnival timelines.

Our Years 3-6 Carnival will be held on Friday 26th April (Week 1) and Friday 3rd May (Week 2) at Windsor Park. As the students will be leaving the school grounds, permission is required for them to attend and participate in the carnival.

This year, there are changes to the way that the field events will operate. Please carefully read the information about this in the online consent form before submitting the form. Mr Goddard has already spoken with the students in Years 3-6 about these changes.

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION

We would like to inform you about the religious instruction (RI) arrangements in 2019. If you wish to make any changes to your current preferences regarding your child’s participation in RI or other instruction, please complete this online form . A hardcopy version form is also available for download on the school website. If there are no changes to be made, there is no need to return a form to the school.

Queensland state schools embrace a multitude of cultural, religious and non-religious beliefs. Under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, schools are to provide RI each week if approached by a faith group seeking to provide RI and students of that faith attend the school.

RI informs students about the beliefs and values of a particular religion. It is delivered by volunteers of a faith group using instructional materials approved by that faith group. These materials are not part of the formal school curriculum and are not endorsed by the Department of Education.

All RI instructors must hold a blue card and participate in compulsory Student Protection and Code of Conduct training. RI instructors are only entitled to deliver the RI program outlined below. A school staff member will be present during the delivery of RI.

Participation in RI is not compulsory. Any student (except Prep students) may participate in RI if a parent has given consent and indicated a religion on the Application for Student Enrolment Form or in other written advice to the principal. A parent, regardless of their own faith (if any), may choose to give consent for their child to participate in one of the RI programs listed below.

Any child not participating in RI, or whose nominated religion is not represented within the RI program at the school, will receive other instruction by a qualified member of school staff in a separate location during the time RI is held. Other instruction will relate to subject areas that have already been covered in class.

At any time, parents may provide written instruction to the principal to change their preference for their child to participate in or be withdrawn from RI. If a parent does not update their consent by completing and returning this form, their previous written instructions to the school will continue to apply.

The faith groups that provide religious instructors to deliver the program at our school are listed below, including links to the website for materials to be used in RI at our school. Please note that at this stage, Christian RI is the only RI program on offer at Windsor SS.

The aims and objectives of the co-operative Christian RI program is to inform students about the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. Lesson aims and overviews for each of the RI programs to be used in this agreement are available via the links in the table above.

Further details about our school’s RI program and other instruction are available on the school’s website and in the school’s parent handbook. You may also wish to access the Department’s RI policy statement available at:

In 2019, there is no cost for the activity book that participating students will use in RI. Each year, parents/carers will be notified if there is a cost for the purchasing of student workbooks and the associated payment options.

You will also be notified of any changes to RI or other instruction.

Our school’s Christian RI Coordinator Mrs Karen Grenning is available to answer any questions you may have about the program. You can contact Mrs Grenning at grenning@bigpond.net.au or you may make an appointment to meet with her in the school office. Copies of the RI Teacher’s Manuals and Student Workbooks are also available now in the school office for parents to peruse.

If you would like further information about RI or other instruction at our school, or require assistance with completing the online or hardcopy form, please contact us at admin@windsorss.eqk.edu.au.

NAPLAN

In Term 2, our Year 3 and Year 5 students will sit the NAPLAN tests. The dates of these tests are outline below:

The 2019 NAPLAN Information for Parents and Carers brochure is available to download below and further information about the NAPLAN tests is also available on the NAPLAN website.

NAPLAN is important, but also a very small part of two hundred days in a school year. Some children may feel anxious or worried about the tests due to the hype surrounding them.

Much has been said and written about NAPLAN. In our experience, if parents or teachers over emphasise the importance of NAPLAN to children, there is great potential for children to become excessively stressed and likely not complete the tests to the best of their ability. Our students complete tests/assessments very regularly, so why treat these tests differently? Please help us reassure the children about the testing, build their confidence and trust in their ability to do well.

Like ACARA, we certainly do not recommend the use of any commercial products, such as booklets and practice tests, to help your child prepare for NAPLAN tests. None of the commercial products currently on the market are endorsed by ACARA and the use of these or services by coaching providers are not recommended by Windsor SS nor ACARA. The best way you can help your child prepare for NAPLAN is to reassure them that the tests are just one part of their school program and to encourage them to simply do the best they can on the day.

Some students may feel anxious about NAPLAN, but it’s up to the adults in children’s lives to help keep NAPLAN in context. It’s a test that is only taken four times in a child’s schooling life – over three days, there are four tests that take around one hour each. NAPLAN tests what students should already know from their everyday learning, and there are no prizes or repercussions for doing well or not so well in the tests. NAPLAN doesn’t test everything that happens in a classroom – it isn’t intended to – but it does look at the critically important areas of literacy and numeracy – skills that your child will take with them to their adult life. (Robert Randall, ACARA CEO, 2017)

NEW! RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR PLAN 2019-2022

In 2018, our School Culture committee reviewed the Responsible Behaviour Plan for 2019-2022. The final document will be endorsed by the School Council and P&C at their first meetings of the year. The updated plan is embedded below for all parents/caregivers to read and will be uploaded with all attachments to the school website post endorsement. Please take your time to read the embedded document carefully and have conversations with your children at home. Thanks for your support!

Pastoral Care: Social Emotional Learning @ Windsor SS

Universal Support for Students

Through our Whole School Pastoral Care program, we teach and assist children in developing the 12 Positive Attitudes (previously known as Habits of the Mind) and 5 Social-Emotional skills (Getting Along, Organisation, Persistence, Confidence and Resilience) they need to reach the top of the triangle. The ultimate goals (see above) are for all children to achieve to the best of their ability, develop positive relationships and behaviour and experience the highest levels of wellbeing.

For all young people to reach the Goals at the top of the triangle, they need to also have moral Character; that is, possess Values/Strengths, positive attitudes as well as social and emotional learning skills. Values generally indicate the degree of importance of some thing or action, with the aim of determining what actions are best to do or what way is best to live, or to describe the significance of different actions. The 6 Strengths are what positive psychologists refer to as ‘Virtues’; categories consisting of different character strengths (see more here). There are 24-character strengths (virtues) that are incorporated under the six categories:

1. Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, perspective
2. Courage: bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest
3. Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
4. Justice: teamwork, fairness, leadership
5. Temperance: forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation
6. Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humour, spirituality

Environment is extremely important; therefore, the efforts of family, school and community are recognised as important in helping young children to attain positive outcomes. The unique contribution of this YCDI! Education is in strengthening the mindset and social-emotional strengths all children need to realise their full potential.

Connie Confident; Oscar Organisation; Pete Persistent; Gabby Get Along; Ricky Resilient help students understand the positive attitudes they need to be successful

The You Can Do It! Education Social and Emotional Learning frameworks (see “The Windsor Way” below) address aspects of the psychological functioning of young people that lead to poor learning, behaviour and social and emotional outcomes. Negative Attitudes and under-developed Character (values and strengths) create negative Social-Emotional Blockers (Anger, Worry, Feeling Down, Procrastination, Not Paying Attention).

Symmetrically, the frameworks also represent the corresponding Positive Attitudes and Character (values, strengths) that support five essential Social-Emotional Skills all contributing to positive Social-Emotional Skills (Getting Along, Organisation, Persistence, Confidence, Resilience). It is important for students to fully understand both sides of the framework to be able to counteract the blockers and develop the positive attitudes and skills (see below).

“The Windsor Way”- based on YCDI Education! Social & Emotional Framework

Code of Conduct @ Windsor SS

Behavioural Expectations

Behaviour at Windsor State School is NOT simply related to compliant/obedient children, our goal is to fully develop all positive attitudes and social emotional skills. Behaviour results on end of semester report cards are directly linked to each student’s ability to achieve a particular Behaviour Level (A = Gold; B = Silver; C = Bronze). Students are encouraged/coached to use the Code of Conduct criteria sheet to strive for positive growth and excellence.

The behavioural expectations criteria (see WSS Code of Conduct below) are used by teachers to teach, encourage, reinforce and coach students to improve and become happy and successful. Teachers use these criteria to directly assess and assign a Behaviour rating at the end of each semester. (see our new Code of Conduct & Positive Behaviour poster below)

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.

Getting Along with Others…Do the High Five!!

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 .

ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL- BLING YOUR BIKE!!

National Ride to School Day

Recently, we celebrated National Ride to School Day by ‘blinging’ our bikes…helmets and scooters. National Ride2School Day aims to show school communities that riding to school is an easy and fun activity. Thank you to all students and parents who rode, walked, carpooled or used public transport to get to school on the day. The Bike Cage was completely full and all active travellers had the opportunity to win prizes from Brisbane City Council. Congratulations to everyone who participated!

Walking Wheeling Wednesday EVERY Wednesday! Let’s get active Windsor!!

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!

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.

Curriculum Corner

Term 1, Week 10

As we come to the end of Term 1, it is a good time for reflecting on some of the great work students and teachers have undertaken across the school. As always, the weeks fly by and we all seem to race towards the end of the term completing final assessments in order to begin new studies in Term 2. We thought this week would be a good opportunity to highlight some of the writing work that has been happening in classrooms and provide some examples of student work.

Prep – Year 2 Writing

In Prep students have focused on the foundation skills of writing. They have practised their letters and sounds, handwriting with Casey Caterpillar and drawing amazing pictures and diagrams with added detail for interest. The students have enjoyed beginning their Writing Workshops and working as authors. The Prep students should all be congratulated on ‘working tough’ and being resilient as they have all demonstrated these skills when having a go. A great start to the year.

Year Ones have focused their work on retelling narratives. The students have explored several picture books and have then been able to retell the stories using both words and pictures. They have demonstrated their knowledge of narrative structure and identified the beginning, middle and end of the story. The students have also worked hard on sentence structure, using punctuation and having a go spelling some challenging words. We can also see some wonderful attempts at editing for spelling in the pieces below.

In Year Two the students have been developing their understanding of how authors follow a structure when writing a narrative. The students have explored the personalities of a variety of different characters and then added in another chapter to a story. In doing this they have continued to practise spelling, grammar and punctuation skills and have been working hard on using feedback effectively to make their writing better.

Year 3 – Year 6 Writing

Year 3 students have focused on the persuasive text and worked hard to examine the text structures and language features of specific persuasive texts in newspapers and they then wrote their own piece arguing for or against whether or not students should be able to have a T.V in their rooms. Below are some examples of the persuasive genre in action.

In Year 4, the focus for writing has been on investigating author’s language. Students studied, ‘The Twits’ by Roald Dahl where a husband and wife constantly play tricks on one another. Students subsequently created their own ‘chapter’ presenting a new ‘trick’ to the audience. In understanding the narrative structure and author’s use of language features to create humour, students were able to imitate Dahl’s style of writing when producing their own works.

Year 5 explored fantasy texts this term. The focus of this unit was to examine how to effectively develop character, setting and plot in a narrative where a protagonist (good character) and antagonist (evil character) are essential. Students first wrote a character analysis essay to show their understanding of character traits and how a protagonist behaves when faced with a dilemma. They then wrote the first chapter of a potential novel to demonstrate their understanding of these concepts. Some examples of each are shown below.

In Year 6, students have been studying short stories such as, ‘The Loaded Dog’ and ‘Give Peas a Chance’ in order to examine how authors use text structures, language features and strategies to create humorous effects. After studying these texts, students then wrote their own short stories with a view to creating humour in their complication and resolutions. Many of the students have also been working with Mrs Fanning to hone their demand writing skills and demonstrating their writing skills under the pressure of a time limit. Some examples of these pieces are below.

Curriculum Coordinators,

Anna Thygesen (Prep-Yr2)
Lisa Heard (Yr3-Yr6)

Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop is open during the School term on Mondays 2:30pm – 3:30pm and Wednesdays 8:30am – 9:30am. Uniform Shop orders can be placed online using the online ordering system, Munch Monitor. Online orders can be picked up from the Uniform Shop or delivered to your child’s class for them to bring home.

Signing up is very simple; a Munch Monitor fact sheet is available here. As an external supplier with a dedicated account management team they are able to assist with your account enquiries via help@munchmonitor.com.

Please provide any feedback regarding uniforms to the retail sub-committee at retail@windsorsspandc.eq.edu.au

Helping Hands