March 2023

News from the Principal - Geoff Miller

How quickly has the first six weeks gone by?  All students and staff need to be congratulated with how well they have adjusted to the changes due to the expansion of the construction site.  This has clearly had a huge impact on the useable space around our school. Despite this, the resilience and willingness of students and staff to work with what we have at the moment has been evident for all to see – so well done to everyone.

I'm happy to report that the current building phase (bike path, open play areas, and eating places) is on track to be finished within the projected time period, according to the most recent meeting with the builders and project manager.  Currently, it is anticipated that on the first day of term 2, all portions of the school will be accessible. Over the upcoming weeks and the Easter holiday, all barricades and construction should be finished. Early in term 2, it will be very wonderful to be able to officially open the building and the play areas and invite families inside.

Last year we sharpened and narrowed our strategic direction for school improvement.  I can share we are continuing this trend in 2023.  Throughout the year staff and the school community will work together leading whole school improvement with a key focus on two main areas:

1. Function communication – ensuring every student at Rosella Park School has a voice
2. Whole school approach to Pedagogy – Defining the “Rosella Way”

These two focus areas are the same from 2022. This additional year will provide an opportunity for significant growth in both areas.

Recently, a lot of parents have been attending school to participate in parent-teacher interviews. It has been wonderful to have so many parents attend for in-person sessions. It will be wonderful to provide our families more options to engage in school as the school year progresses. Watch this space.

The P&C AGM will soon be here. I'll include more information in a Dojo message. We would be thrilled to have you join the P&C if you are interested.  As we speak, preparations are being made for the annual P&C Easter raffle. Within the next week or so, tickets will be sent home with students. Thank you to all the families that made donations for the Easter Raffles. Best of luck to you should you win one of the raffles.

It has been great to see so many families notify the school about a child's absence after six weeks have passed. Maximizing your child's attendance at school is crucial for supporting their growth and educational achievement. The school year goes by very fast and repeated missed days from unexcused absences reduces the chances for students to participate in organised learning experiences that are in line with the Australian Curriculum. Please call the school at 4976 8333 if you know your child will be absent so that we can document it as an excused absence.

Until our next newsletter, please take care and we look forward to working with you to maximise each day your child attends school.

News from the Deputy Principal - Shelley Slade

COACHING COURSE:

I would like to recognise the large number of staff that joined me to participate in a Level 2 Athletics Coaching course to support the development of our Multiclass Athletes. This course not only required our staff to give up their entire weekend, it also required 3 assignments to be completed to be fully qualified as a coach. This work is completed during the staff’s own time. Thank you to Sally Brierley, Susan Dunstan, Joan Nash, Caroline Harris who volunteered to do this course and providing some quality support for our Athletes this year. Your commitment to our students is commendable.

STUDENT COUNCIL BADGE PRESENTATION

Thank you to the large amount of parents that we had for the Badge Presentation last Monday. It was great to see so many parents, grandparents, carers and significant others come and celebrate the great achievement of our students. Thank you also to Liz Cunningham who came to help present the badges to the students. Congratulations again to our Intermediate Student Council representatives Isabella Baker, Vincent McLachlan, our Senior Student Council representatives Sami Major, Rory Grice and our Transition Student Council representatives Artemis Marinou-Sifounios and Allie Shields. This lovely group joined our fabulous 2023 School Captains Matthew George and Mary-Rose Baker. What an amazing team we have this year!

EASTER DONATIONS

HUGE thank you on behalf of the P&C for the donations of chocolate and Easter Knick Knacks for our upcoming Easter Raffle. Keep your eyes peeled for tickets that will be sent home very soon. Please helps us sell as many as possible to enable us to purchase new equipment for our students.

MEET, GREET & COME FOR A TREAT

In week 4 of Term 2, we will have our Meet & Greet afternoon. This will involve classroom teachers being available to meet and show you around their classrooms. It will also involve some tours of the new building and the bike track. And for those parents who have students in the Transition phase of learning, we will have some information sessions running to help you know what to expect in your students final years of school. More information to come before the end of term.

News from HOD - Mrs Davis/Ms Colucci

Happy Autumn Everyone,

Just wanted to take some time out to let you know our whole-school goal this semester to support communication is Initiation. Independent Initiation ensures that the thoughts that our children have, and the behaviours they present, are immediately seen as communication and we help to model what we think they are saying and also model appropriate ways to get someone’s attention to ‘think our thought’.

Please see the infographic below for best practise on how to help our learners with this.

Best

Dom 

News from the Administration team

2023 School Photo Day

School Photo day is coming up on Tuesday 21st March 2023. Below are instructions on how to order your student photos online. If you have any queries, please contact a member of Admin or Leading Image photography.

PUBLIC HEALTH – IMMUNISATION

2023 School Immunisation Program (SIP)

In 2023, Gladstone Regional Council (GRC) is providing free vaccinations for all students in Year 7 and 10 as part of Queensland Health’s annual School Immunisation Program (SIP).

All students in Year 7 and 10 are offered free vaccinations as recommended under the National Immunisation Program to protect against vaccine preventable diseases:

Year 7   - Gardasil 9 vaccine – Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

                - Boostrix vaccine – Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis/Whooping Cough (dTpa)

Year 10 - Nimenrix vaccine – Meningococcal ACWY

A consent pack has been given to your child to bring home.  Please read the information booklet carefully, sign the consent card and return the consent card to school.

School clinics will be scheduled in May.  There will also be a catch-up clinic for students who miss the initial clinic as well as catch up opportunities for students in Years 8 and 11 who missed last year’s clinic.

Only students with a signed and completed consent card, indicating ‘Yes to vaccination’ will be vaccinated.  If you do not wish for your child to receive the vaccine and/or your child is already vaccinated, please complete the ‘No to vaccination’ section of the consent card and return to school.

New laws require the school Principal to disclose student and parent information of eligible students to the school immunisation provider (GRC), if requested.  This information will enable GRC to determine those who have and have not consented, and directly follow-up with parents of students who have not yet returned a consent card.  This direct follow-up ensures all parents are offered the opportunity for their child to participate in this important school health program.  It may also assist you in making decisions about your child’s immunisation needs.  Parents who indicate ‘No to vaccination’ will not receive follow-up from the provider.  GRC is bound to comply with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) which stipulates the requirements for the secure collection, use, storage and disposal of personal information.

Parents are encouraged to ensure their child has eaten an adequate breakfast on the morning of vaccination and has adequate food and drink on the day.

For more information about diseases, vaccines or the School Immunisation Program, visit www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/immunisation/default.asp or call 13 HEALTH on 13 43 25 84.

Junior 1 - Mrs Coulston

Term one has flown and we are almost at the end of it.

Junior 1 have been working very hard to establish routines, develop communication and make new friends. Our teacher aide is Miss Kerrie and our Technology teacher is Miss Bek and I am Miss Judy. The other teacher aides are Miss Di and Miss Leah.

We join with the other junior classes for health and fitness sessions which will give us the chance to build friendships, develop social skills and move our bodies. Other subjects we will be exploring are English, Maths, Technology and Science.

We go to parade on a Monday afternoon over to L Block where we get to have a play in the sensory room first. Every Tuesday middle session we are having a play in the water with the other juniors and on Fridays we all get together again to celebrate all of our achievements throughout the week.

Well that’s Junior 1 so far; please do not hesitate to call or Dojo me if you have any questions or to find out how your child is going.

Junior 1 – Miss Judy and Miss Kerrie

Junior 2 - Mrs Williams

Hello Junior 2 families,

Students have been extremely busy over the last few weeks participating in a range of learning activities. For our HPE unit of work we are exploring fundamental movements and safety as a whole cohort. Learning has focused on practicing movement skills through action songs and exploring a range of apparatus outside on the verandah. Our safety component is a lot of fun as we are exploring water and sun safety in the sensory garden. Students are thoroughly enjoying these activities and working together with their peers from the other junior classes. During break times students enjoy going over to the undercover area to eat and play. They all have their favourite activities to explore and participate in with the swing, sandpit and Library being quite popular at the moment. Last week we celebrated both of our prep students 5^th birthdays. We are extremely proud of how well they have both settled into school life and look forward to the learning experiences we will all share throughout the year.

Thank you from the junior 2 team.

Junior 3 - Mrs Hayne

Junior 3 have had a busy month. During the morning session the  students have been checking the weather daily and making a comment about what the day looks like as part of the Science Unit. Our English lessons have focused on rhyming books following on with the exploration of onset rhyme exploring a different rhyme each week. At the end of the week Junior 3 will walk around the school searching for the letters of the week on signs and notice boards. We have enjoyed the chance to visit the new L Block as part of our journey.   In Math there are lessons on addition and subtraction and sequencing events across the day.  In HPE we have joined with the rest of the Junior cohort in the Sensory Garden learning to keep ourselves safe and participate in a variety of movement explorations.

Warm regards,

Leanne Hayne

Intermediate 1 - Mrs Buckle

Easter is knocking at our door.  This term is flying past.  The staff have been modelling your child’s communication devices in all areas of our learning.  We are modelling how to make comments to help build up commenting in our students as per their ICP goals.  Plus, the flip side of this, is for our students to answer questions for the comprehension side of their ICPs.

We have investigated the feel of snow for our Science unit. Our students showed diverse reactions from ‘loving it’ to ‘get it away from me’.  We will explore windy, hot and sunny weather. In HPE we are moving to songs about animals and other fundamental moves.

Fridays are a highlight with water play now in the sensory garden. 

From the Intermediate 1 classroom staff.

Intermediate 2 - Mrs Maguire

In Intermediate 2 students have been working extremely hard on their individual goals for English, Maths, Science, HPE and  Design and Digital Technology. The students have really enjoyed the fun activities that have been included within the week.  Activities selected for each subject are designed with the letters of the week in mind and include art, cooking and sensory tasks. Each task  helps students develop their fine motor skills and interpersonal skills of turn taking, sharing and working effectively as a group. Learning is about having fun!!!

Intermediate 3 - Ms Bowden

Intermediate 3 have been learning about the weather and how it affects us.  We have been graphing the high and low temperatures over the term and making weather charts to track the weather daily.

Intermediate 4 - Mr Dennis

Intermediate 4 have been working really well this term and enjoying lots of fun activities. For English we have been looking at different sound blends and for Math looking at money. For Science we are looking at the environment and learning about what is around us. We are also just starting a cooking program every Friday which will help us to learn about different measurements.

Intermediate 5 - Mrs Nash

Wow we are over the halfway mark already!

Inter 5 have been very busy learning our alphabet in English this term.  We love all the sensory activities and songs that we have been doing.  We have also been busy learning how to use our communication devices and how to initiate when we have something to say.  For example, how do we get peers and staff attention to let them know we have something to say?  In Math we have been busy practicing our counting skills and learning all about patterns.  We love doing the actions in our favourite action songs such as heads and shoulders.

The expression of interest letter for school camp went out this week as well.  Camp is a great place for students to really shine.  There is so much opportunity for communication growth and for staff to really understand each individual student.  It is daunting I know, to send your child away on camp and you will worry about how they go.  But the staff who attend camp are there because they want the best for your child and will do everything. They will ensure your child has an amazing time 😊

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all.  Alternatively, you can chat to a parent who sent their child on Intermediate camp last year.  The students had an amazing time.

'Til next time

Joan, Sara and Jess

Senior 1/2 - Mrs Ward/Miss C

Time has certainly flown by for Senior 1 and 2!

For the past few weeks we have been taking a closer look at skip counting and starting from any given number to count forward and backwards by 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s which is going hand in hand with our students building patterns with concrete materials from natural and man-made materials. Understanding more and less contributes to building their sequencing skills. We continue to observe the construction underway at the front of our room where we take photographs of the works being completed, with permission of course from the workman 😊Following the observations and discussions, our students write or draw their findings and then make predictions of what may, or could, happen next and also make predictions of what the workmen are constructing.

During Science we are locating materials within our classroom and outside of the classroom to discover their properties and durability.

We continue to build our strength with reading and comprehension focussing on nouns, verbs and adjectives and in particular character traits and features of the main character/s.

Who knew that you could make fractions from potato gems and sultanas? Well, our wonderful students have been learning with hands on items by re-arranging double digit numbers into halves, quarters, thirds and eighths. You will see in the photographs that some students have arranged their fractions with fruit, spreading their bread and cutting into various fractions, pikelets and lastly but not least, pizza! Our students enjoyed their delicious fractions too!

What great achievements Senior 1 and 2 have been making!

Senior 3 - Miss Harris

All of our student's Individual Curriculum Goals have been set and are on their way to being taught now. Students have goals in English, Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education and Technology. Along with these curriculum goals, we are working on some social and emotional goals in Senior 3. Students are working towards calling each other by name to show respect, taking turns, demonstrating patience when waiting, speaking kindly and telling an adult if they need help.

In order to help us achieve our goals we are developing a reward system and having a lot of fun. Some of the best learning happens when we are all working together and having fun. A great example of this is when we are using the new Activity Room in L Block and taking turns setting challenges for each other to complete as part of Health and Physical Education.

The reward system in Senior 3 involves students getting a positive write up in their “Super Green Acts” booklet whenever they do something that is above and beyond expectations. They then get to spin a reward wheel once they get their 10^th write up. So far prizes that have been spun have been free time on laptop, a lolly, a packet of chips, a visit to another room and trampoline time. There are 20 different prize options on the wheel so it is a bit exciting when it gets spun finding out what they will get.

Our whole school reward system of Shazams is also being used in Senior 3 and these are given out when students are demonstrating the PBL lesson of the week. Everyone in Senior 3 is on track for getting good prizes from the Shazam shop at the end of the term, or end of semester if they want to keep saving up. I’m very proud of the work ethic and progress Senior 3 are making.

Thanks for reading, Caroline Harris.

If you ever want to get in touch my email is: charr512@eq.edu.au

Senior 4 - Mrs Dunstan

All the students are really enjoying "Make it Monday". On this highly anticipated day the students practice and apply their literacy skills using concrete materials.

The class has made good use of the literacy skills to:  

• construct a rebounder to practice our ball skills in PE lessons
• bake a carrot cake using carrots from the school garden and a banana cake using leftover from breakfast club.

• construct a LEGO farm and use the mathematical concepts of location and direction to equip and place the animals and crops correctly
• 3-dimesional shapes

Next "Make it Monday" the students will be constructing a storage cube for their puzzles.

Transition 1 - Mr Pallett

Busy. Busy. Busy. 

It’s a packed programme in Transition 1.  

We spent four weeks learning about time in Math – using analogue and digital clocks, recognising the different measures of time and using the calendar to find our birthdays and the time between days. We have moved on to learning about money and how to give the correct change in a shop. 

In our Certificate 1 lessons, the class have adapted well to the demands of the course and have already completed some assessment work. In English, the students have impressed me with their reading and their letter writing skills. 

We have been out and about in the community for our Technology and Citizenship lessons. We have visited the library to use their catalogue computers and the offices of both our local MPs. 

Fitness has been a particular favourite and we have played floor volleyball in the library as well as getting our hearts pumping with Just Dance. We have also played team games in the undercover area and been out to the basketball courts at the PCYC. 

I will continue to post photos of our activities on ClassDojo for parents and friends to enjoy. 

Transition 2 - Miss Sally

It’s hard to believe half the term is over already. Everyone has adapted to life in transition really well with students particularly enjoying our Recycling and Technology in the Community lessons.  We have raised an amazing $400 so far from our recycling efforts thanks to donations (Andersons Auto City's $200 donation) and our business collections. The exciting news is welcoming new businesses Tradelink and Optimal Pharmacy who have come on board with our program. 

In February we celebrated Holly’s birthday with Transition 1 joining us for the occasion. We continue to work away steadily towards our goals, with students having just sat their summative assessment for the time unit in mathematics.  Massive thank you needs to go out to Mr Geoff for his recent support on our recent recycling bus outings.  His input and guidance in our "Spotto" game has been invaluable.  Everyone is looking forward to what the next four weeks have in store!

Transition 3 - Mrs Leeson

 Can you believe we are half way through the first term of school already? In year 12 we have been very busy across a number of curriculum areas. Firstly, our visits to local cafés has been very successful and we are confident that we have a winning menu planned. Next week we are going to start cooking a variety of food ideas to make sure they are suitable for the menu. We will be starting with scones. In Active Citizenship we have been busy organising what has been a successful Clean Up Australia Day event at our school. We raised $118.20 through the free dress day which will be donated to the Clean up Australia Day organisation. The funds go towards all the resources they give out each year as part of the cleaning process. Check out the photos. In Math we have been focusing on money and some students have been working on budgeting. In English, Kitarna, Alex and Kassidy have been using their communication devices to help design a picnic (after reading the story “Alpacas Picnic Panic”). Kassidy would pack a sandwich, carrots and pizza; Alex suggested chips, pizza, broccoli and rockmelon; Kitarna would like to pack some bread, popcorn, eggs and snacks. Sounds like a great picnic to me.

Non Contact Teachers - Ms Atkins, Mrs Thornton, Mrs Withoos and Mrs Mackenzie

During Design Technology students have been busy exploring toys that spin. We have examined the different forces of push and pull that make them work and investigated what kinds of materials are suitable for toys and spinning toys. We explored paper, conducting different experiments to examine its properties and look at its sustainability. We then created two different spinning toys made form paper. We still have more materials to explore in the coming weeks.

During Digital technology we have continued our exploration of data. Students looked at data in the form of Photographs. The selected locations and completed photography of different subjects before displaying it in a slideshow to share with a chosen staff member. We have just begun investigating data as music and a series of musical notes. Students are enjoying using GarageBand to compose and share music.  Ms Atkins

In their 'Living my Best Self' studies, Transition 2 students have been exploring making delicious treats with a focus on healthy and homemade options.  They made some double choc energy balls which they found to be very tasty and shared them with staff, who also appreciated them.  

Transition 1 created some outstanding artworks in their Visual Arts program where they have been exploring monoprints using stencils and natural objects.  Mrs Thornton