July/August 2023
- News from the Principal
- News from the Deputy Principal
- News from Administration
- Junior 1 - Mrs Avis
- Junior 2 - Mrs Williams
- Junior 3 - Mrs Hayne
- Intermediate 1 - Mrs Buckle
- Intermediate 2 - Mrs Maguire
- Intermediate 3 - Mrs Bowden
- Intermediate 4 - Mr Dennis
- Intermediate 5 - Mrs Nash
- Senior 1 - Mrs Ward
- Senior 2 - Miss C
- Senior 3 - Ms Harris
- Senior 4 - Mrs Dunstan
- Transition 1 - Mr Pallett
- Transition 2 - Mrs Brierley
- Transition 3 - Mrs Leeson
- NCT - Transition and Intermediate - Mrs Thornton
- Rosella Athletics
- Community News
News from the Principal
Hi All
What a busy and great start to Term 3. We have had some amazing events occurring which have been extremely engaging for staff and students. So well done to everyone for their efforts and engagement during this time.
Highlights have been the recent sporting achievements of many of our students as they represented Rosella Park School at the Port Curtis Sports. As you would have seen from our Facebook posts, all the students in attendance tried their very best and represented our school and themselves proudly. From all of our participants who attended it is exciting to share that 14 of them who attended the Capricornia Track and Field held in March, qualified for the next round to be held during August. So well done to all of you. You should all be extremely proud of your hard work and efforts. Additionally, to the staff especially Miss Caroline, Miss Sally and Miss Shelley, thank you for supporting our students leading up to the event and on the day.
Miss Shelley and her NAIDOC committee put together a fantastic week-long acknowledgement and celebration for NAIDOC week at Rosella Park School. It was very positive and affirming to see all of our students and staff engaging in genuine activities that created opportunities to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of our first nations people. Highlights included each class designing their own classroom display, writing a class acknowledgment of country, staff vs students touch footy game, NAIDOC related activity session, professional learning opportunity for staff around the 8 ways pedagogy (supported by Principal Pat from Gladstone South State School) and culminating in a catered High Tea for invited guest.
To finish off all the hard work of the first 3 weeks, we welcomed Deano Yipadee back to our school. Deano visited us last year and showcased his talents entertaining and engaging students and staff with his funny interactive story telling. We eagerly and happily said yes to a return visit in 2024. It is fair to say that again all the students and staff had a great time enjoying listening to stories and laughing at Deano’s funny jokes. Big thank you to Miss Dee for getting this all organised for our school, and to the staff for engaging with the students during the sessions – even if that required you to dress up and be part of Deano’s jokes.
Just a reminder regarding our school uniform during the cooler months, our winter uniform as per the uniform policy is navy-blue jumpers / jackets. I have seen quite a few students wearing different colours – Can I please ask families to transition over to a navy-blue coloured jumper or jacket if their child currently does not have one. Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding this if you need to discuss further.
Finally, we are sad to say goodbye to Miss Bek who will be leaving Rosella Park School to take up a new and exciting opportunity with Autism Qld. Rosella Park School’s loss is definitely Autism QLD’s gain. Miss Bek has been at Rosella Park School since 2016, so she has had an enormous and positive impact on many of our students, families and staff during that time. Please join with me thanking her for all of her hard work and dedication, and wishing her the very best in her pursuits in her new role.
Until our next newsletter, wishing you all the very best. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school and arrange a time to have a chat.
News from the Deputy Principal
NAIDOC WEEK
What a mammoth week we had in Week 2, celebrating our First Nations People. From amazing classroom window displays, personalised Acknowledgment to Country for each classroom created, a game of footy where staff were versing the students, (the students were quick to tell me that the staff were cheating!), then a range of rotational activities on the Thursday with a shared fruit break, until finally we finished on Friday with a lovely High Tea to culminate the Theme for 2023 ‘For Our Elders’. The students had a great time and our NAIDOC committee were given lots of wonderful comments about how well the week went.
ARTIST JACK
A massive congratulations to our young transition student, Jack Low who has designed a gorgeous tea towel and with the help of Mrs Thornton, has had his design printed on 150 tea towels, which have now SOLD OUT!!! Miss Thornton has donated the funds raised from this to the Transition Student Camp, which will certainly reduce the cost for the students…aka parents! Thank you to Mrs Thornton for making this a possibility for Jack and thank you to all staff, families and community members who supported this great cause. Jack is certainly pretty proud of himself.
MULTICLASS SPORT
I am sure you have all seen the Facebook updates celebrating our students and their amazing achievements this week. I couldn’t be more proud of them and the way in which they presented themselves on both days. We even have students from other schools wanting to sit with our team because they felt included and supported from our students. How beautiful is that! Again a big thank you to Caroline for her efforts as the Sports Coordinator and ensuring that the days ran smoothly and everyone got their ribbons with times/distances recorded following their events. Thank you also goes to our staff who attended on the days, Mr Gil, Miss Donna and Miss Sally. All of you helped cheer our students on and celebrated the students progress. It was also lovely to see so many parents coming along to support the team. We love being able to celebrate these moments with you.
WHAT IS COMING UP?
We have our upcoming PBL days at the end of the term which we will need some parent volunteers for, so please consider getting involved if you have a spare couple of hours. We also have Book Week coming up, so be ready with your costumes. Don’t forget we also have a Show Holiday coming up on Monday, August 14th and a Student Free Day on Friday September 1st.
SCHOOL GALA SPORTS DAY
Thursday 7th September
The Sports Gala Day is a traditional day where students compete in their houses; Rosella Redbacks (Red), Park Sharks (Blue) & Dawson Tigers (Yellow). Over the next few weeks we will be ensuring all our students know their house and begin the fun of learning their team war cry. The day is filled with activities that support participation for all of our students. Students collect points for their house by participating in the activities. The more activities they participate in the more points they collect. Parents and Families are welcome to come along and cheer on their child. Further details will be sent out to families over the coming weeks leading up to the event.
Go! Tigers, Go! Sharks and Go! Redbacks.
until next month…
Mrs Slade
News from Administration
Absence Notifications by parents for students
A reminder to all parents and carers that if your child is absent, please notify the school administration office of the reason for the absence. There are a number of ways to do this:-
1. Ring and leave a message on the school absentee line
2. Respond to the SMS message which will be sent if your child's absence comes up as unexplained.
3. All unexplained absences will be followed up by the school either by way of a letter or a follow up SMS.
It would be appreciated if parents could respond to any of these options.
Early departure and late arrival
If your child is arriving late or leaving early, then you will need to come into the office and sign them in or out.
Student Pick up
Please remember that if you have organised for your child to be collected from school by others e.g. grandparent, aunt, uncle, carer, etc (anyone other than the parent) you must first advise the school administraion and then make sure to tell that person to present at the office with identification and to sign your child out prior to collection.
Home time
As you can imagine, it can be a bit chaotic at home time so it is appreciated if you have made alternative arrangements on how your child is getting home eg. they normally catch the bus but you will pick them up instead, please either contact Administration or advise the class teacher via the communication diary or Class DOJO.
School Opinion Survey
You would have received an email from the School Opinion Survey team. Please take the time to fill in the survey. It provides the school with valuable feedback of where we can improve or even where we are doing well. Thank you.
School Uniforms
A reminder to all parents, carers and students that hoodies of any description cannot be worn at school. The school uniform policy recommends a blue pullover, zip up cardigan or school jacket. Also, please ensure that if wearing track pants, they are the school colour. If your child is coming to school dressed incorrectly, a note will be sent home. If you have any questions, please contact the school on 49768333.
Children's Book Week
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Book week is approaching………. The coutdown is on - 4 weeks and 2 days 😊
The theme this year is READ, GROW Inspire
Start planning your fabulous costume
Junior 1 - Mrs Avis
Hi everyone and welcome to Term 3. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, for those families that do not know me. My name is Hannah Avis and for the least five years I have been on leave raising my little family. I made the decision at the beginning of the year that it was time to come back to Rosella and join the fun once again. Junior 1 has had some changes this term. Miss Judy has taken some leave and I have been lucky enough to join the students and team in Junior 1. I have really enjoyed working with the students over the last few weeks and am excited to get to know them and their families a little better. I have an open door policy and believe that it really does take a village to raise a child. Communication between home and school is vital so please reach out at any time. 😊 I hope everyone has had a great start to the semester.
Thanks Hannah
Junior 2 - Mrs Williams
Hello families,
Junior 2 students have had a fantastic time participating in the NAIDOC activities during week 2. We explored with instruments, created artworks and experimented with the parachute. A sheet was draped over the fence which we spray painted with a range of colours to make a beautiful collage. In the classroom, students enjoyed viewing and dancing to some indigenous songs and our welcome to country song which we listen to each morning. On Wednesday, week 3, we had a performance by Deano Yipadee. This was an amazing experience and students had a great time. We sang, we dance and we laughed.
The Junior cohort has enjoyed working together again this term. We have some great learning activities planned for semester 2 and look forward to sharing them with you.
Thank you, the Junior 2 team.
Junior 3 - Mrs Hayne
Welcome to Term 3. It is lovely to start refreshed and ready to learn after a relaxing holiday. Junior 3 students have been busy beginning new subjects for their learning. We have started learning in the areas of History, Geography, Music, Drama, Dance and will continue with English, Maths and Science.
The Junior cohort join together across the week participating in object movement, directional and letter activities. As a cohort we had the opportunity to participate in NAIDOC activities which included wall painting, parachute, collage, painting wooden pieces, decorating a Rainbow Serpent and choosing a symbol that represents them. The morning was a lot of fun. Junior 3 students also had an opportunity to participate in song, dance and book reading when Deanno Yippadee came to visit the school and our class. Deanno bought his guitar for the students to have a play and sing along with him.
Junior 3
Intermediate 1 - Mrs Buckle
Welcome to Term 3
Oh my, it is the end of July!!
So far, our trips to the local town library on Mondays are going well. We use our time there to investigate the many books on display and the views from the high windows.
The students participated with enthusiasm in the NAIDOC activities. Collecting the ‘turtle eggs’ to relocate them to safer ground appealed to both Kishan and Sylas. All the students contributed to the Intermediate 1 window display. Apparently, the students also loved decorating their own bags.
We are working on our new ICP goals, these will be finalised soon for us to meet and discuss. Our learning areas for this semester are: English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Dance/Art and Drama. That is plenty to keep us busy.
A big thank you to our parents for keeping their student’s items fully labelled. It makes locating them much easier.
As a school we will be rolling out the newer version of the Australian Curriculum in 2024. This will happen for our students on a HIC levelled Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP). This means all the students in this class for next year will have slightly different goals to choose from. I am sharing this to raise the awareness that changes are coming but they are not big ones.
As per usual, if you have any concerns about your child, please get in contact so we can discuss it.
Inter 1
Intermediate 2 - Mrs Maguire
Welcome to semester 2. This year is going really fast and it will be Christmas before we know it. Students have had an extremely exciting and busy start to Term 3 with our favourite performer Deano Yipadee coming to our school. Deano is a children's author, musician, and producer, who has performed in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. He has also written a number of books. The students really enjoyed his performance and as a special treat he also visited our classroom and met students and sung them a special song. It was a great day for everyone.
Term 3 is also when students goals are again set for the semester. This semester students will have goals for English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Dance, Music and Drama.
We will not be going on camp this year but we will be going on day trips instead. More information will be provided closer to these events. It’s a busy term but there is a lot of fun along the way so we have just got to hang in there !!
Intermediate 3 - Mrs Bowden
Intermediate 3 students are learning about the movement of objects for Science. We explored the different movements that our bodies can do by listening to music and moving to the beat. We were able to identify what movements we could do and what feelings we experienced. We also explored the movement of objects and experimented with shape, size and speed.
Intermediate 4 - Mr Dennis
Intermediate 4 students participated in many different activities over the course of the week to celebrate NAIDOC week. We enjoyed learning about different Dreamtime stories and loved the activity day where we did many different craft activities. On Friday, we made damper and had it with butter and golden syrup. We have also made tacos and lamingtons this term. For our literacy focus, we have been learning to sequence and re-tell stories and write in response to a story. A busy term so far!
Intermediate 5 - Mrs Nash
Welcome back to term 3……… The time is just flying by.
Since our last newsletter we have had a lot of fun things happening at school. We had our PBL rewards day last term which was heaps of fun. We also got to choose our prize for the term depending on how many shazams the students had earned.
We also had Book Week which was all about pirates. Intermediate 5 loved dressing up as pirates for the day and enjoyed our visit from Pirate Rhonda. Our class were the winners of the best dressed pirates on the day 😊 and had a wonderful pizza party followed by yummy ice cream with sprinkles.
As it was NAIDOC week last week, we participated is some fantastic first nations activities such as, spinners, making bags, digging for turtle eggs and weaving.
This term Intermediate 5 students will be looking at farms. We love watching videos of all the farm animals and are hoping to head to a farm towards the end of the term.
A note shall come out shortly with availability of times slots for upcoming ICP meetings. I look forward to catching up with you all then.
Joan, Jess, Kianne, Ashley and Rennae
Inter 5
Senior 1 - Mrs Ward
Exploring the World: Maps, Cultures and Tastes
As we dive into an exciting new term, we want to share with you some of the wonderful experiences and learning opportunities our class has been engaged in lately. This term, our focus has been on exploring maps and a globe to look at different countries around the world and how they celebrate important events.
Over the next few weeks, we will embark on a journey around the world, discovering fascinating countries and their unique traditions. Armed with maps and a globe, we will trace our fingers across vast oceans and vibrant continents, learning about various cultures and ways of life. From the bustling streets of India to the serene landscapes of Japan, our little explorers will explore the beauty and diversity of our planet.
To truly immerse ourselves in the cultures we study, we've decided to embark on a delicious culinary adventure as well. Each fortnight, our students get to taste traditional and modern dishes from the countries they explore.
NAIDOC Celebrations in Australia: A Special Focus
During the first two weeks of this term, we honed in on NAIDOC celebrations in Australia. It was a memorable time of learning about the rich indigenous culture of this country. Students were introduced to the vibrant traditions, art, and history of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
One particular highlight was when we delved into Australian cuisine and tried something truly unique food such as kangaroo meat. Initially, some students were a bit wary about tasting something new and unfamiliar. However, with their adventurous spirits, they courageously had a taste. To their delight and surprise, they found the traditional meat of kangaroo to be absolutely delicious! It was an experience that taught them to embrace new flavours and appreciate the diversity of food from around the world.
As the term progresses, we will continue our journey of exploration, learning, and tasting new foods from different corners of the globe. We look forward to sharing more exciting updates with you as the term unfolds.
Senior 1
Senior 2 - Miss C
Calling all travellers to celebrate National, Independence and Freedom Days throughout the world. Time to prepare your passports and off we go to explore and tour the country side, finding out the different types of cuisine (food) that each country enjoys.
Our students are determining the differences between texts (books) and examining whether they have factual information, or are the texts for entertainment (narratives) and enjoyment. They have been reading narratives and then converting these narratives into information texts in the format of recipes.
Senior 2 students are continuing to build their addition and subtraction knowledge and investigating different methods and practical strategies to gain their answers.
Great start to term 3!
Senior 3 - Ms Harris
The start of term has been a hectic one for our room. Moving into Room 10 had a few hiccoughs at first with us having to find our preferred activities and re-arrange a few times to find a comfortable set up. Thanks to all students for helping with this move and also for adjusting well to the new room.
The huge benefit for us moving to this room is having a kitchen, and as such, we are starting a bigger and better classroom cooking program. Students are learning about different continents and countries in Geography and events around the world in History. We are linking both of these concepts with food and the food that is eaten at specific celebrations.
Our English program is also going to link beautifully into cooking as we will be reading, and then writing, recipes and experimenting with procedural texts.
Student goals are being set for the semester based on what we are focussing on as a school, what level the students are learning at, and what goals fit with our topics of interest. I will contact families to organise meetings in week 5 (between 7th-11th August) so look out for that.
Senior 3
Senior 4 - Mrs Dunstan
It has been a busy start to term 3. We have moved class rooms and are now in room 11. This allows us to access the kitchen facilities which we did not have in our old class room. We have been making full use of this new facility. Thanks to all students for helping with this move and also for adjusting well to the new room.
The students have enjoyed our NAIDOC week celebrations and participated in the many activities organised for the week. We also enjoyed a performance from Deano Yipadee.
Student goals are being set for the semester based on what we are focussing on as a school, what level the students are learning at, and what goals fit with our topics of interest. I will contact families to organise meetings in week 5 (between 7th-11th August) so look out for that.
Senior 4
Transition 1 - Mr Pallett
During Term 3, students in Transition 1 have continued to focus on improving their skills in English and Maths, whilst being introduced to a new set of goals in other areas.
In English, we have continued to focus on our reading and on developing our ability to write about different sides of a topic. In Maths, we are learning about money, with our key priorities being counting Australian notes and coins and calculating correct change.
Our Technology focus has been on Digital Safety and learning how to navigate the increasingly vital online world while remaining emotionally secure and protecting both ourselves and our data. In Health, we have been looking at how to build positive relationships and to understand and recognise our emotions.
The students have really enjoyed our Leisure and Recreation lessons and they are always keen to get out and about in the local community. We have visited or shall visit East Shores, Tondoon Botanic Gardens and Lion’s Park and, as the weather warms up, we hope to be getting out even more. Please remember that all students need to be in proper school uniform to access external programmes.
I shall continue to put up pictures of our class activities on ClassDojo. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the Transition 1 programme.
Transition 2 - Mrs Brierley
Welcome back to Term 3. We have had a great start to the Term celebrating and taking part in activities for NAIDOC Week. 4 students within the class also took part in the Port Curtis trials where some amazing results were achieved. As a result, all four of our Transition 2 students have now qualified for the Capricornia trials in Mackay. What a huge achievement!!
This term our students are preparing for work experience placements and we are working hard to link students to appropriate businesses. Everyone is very excited to take part in this wonderful opportunity.
In English, we are continuing to build connections through authentic opportunities within the community. This will see students navigate, read and view different texts in the community and their purpose. In building our interpretive skills, students will, over the term summarise and organise the information and ideas gained from the various texts explored.
In Maths, we are fortunate to be taking part in a budgeting program run by Variety that will correlate and connect with our money and financial mathematics lessons. This will be a really valuable opportunity for our students.
We are looking forward to a great term!
Transition 2
Transition 3 - Mrs Leeson
It has been a crazy, busy start to term 3. We have kicked off with lots of new programs. We are super excited to join Endeavour Learning and Lifestyle on a Friday for their Fun Friday lunch program. One week they visit a pub/café around town for lunch and the other week they visit a park somewhere in our region for a BBQ. Our first visit with them was a pub lunch which happened to be at Encore, Yaralla. We had super full tummies after this visit. This week (week 3) will be a BBQ. Each week it is a surprise to us which park or venue Endeavour pick. The students heading off to Endeavour Enterprises are off to a slow start this semester. They have changed the way they process the paperwork this year, so it is taking a little longer to get going. As soon as all the paperwork is returned, Endeavour can process it and we can get a start date.
Our tuckshop program is up and running this semester with our first lot of orders coming in. The students have worked especially hard to get ready, making sausage rolls, mini pizzas and cooking up the spaghetti mince. Man, the spaghetti mince tastes so good.
Soon we will begin planning this year’s Year 12 graduation ceremony. We aim to hold it in late November. We will keep you updated as things progress.
We have been fortunate enough to have Variety come on board with the school this year and they are going to be holding fortnightly budgeting (Real Money) sessions with the students in Transition. If this all goes well, the program will begin on the 9th of August. This is going to be a great program. Once again, we will share more information and progress once we get started.
I am in the process of finalising the school camp details. We look to have a fantastic program planned. It will include a cultural tour with the Taribelang Bunda group, a visit and tour of Hinkler House and Fairymead House, Snakes Downunder Reptile Park and Zoo, Dinner out one night, lunch at Mollydooker’s in Appletree Creek, a visit and tour of Bundy Barrel, bowling and activities at Bundy Bowl and Leisure and lots more. We aim to create a fun filled week that the students will remember for years to come.
As our year 12 students head towards the final semester of their schooling, we have to check:
1. Have they applied for their disability pension?
2. Do you have NDIS sorted out, with a review date before the end of the school year?
3. Have you applied for a Companion Card? Is your child 18 or soon to be 18 and have you applied for an 18+ card through the Transport Department?
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Transition 3
NCT - Transition and Intermediate - Mrs Thornton
Transition 1 and 2 have started Kitchen Operations this term and they had a great start making a delicious fruit salad with an orange, lemon and honey dressing and topped with some vanilla yoghurt. In week 2 Transition 1 made healthy smoothies and Transition 2 made poached eggs on wholemeal toast with feta and avocado smash! It was a real hit! It’s been great to see everyone so enthusiastic and working as a team. They are trying new things and learning how to use various types of kitchen equipment with a focus on safety.
Intermediate 3 and 4 have started learning about where and why people dance. They have been very excited looking at all the different types of dances in many locations such as the N.Z. Haka, competition dancing, ballet, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dancing. They have enjoyed watching and copying Sponge Bob’s fun dance moves!
Transition 3 had their introduction to the work experience program at The Salvation Army last week. Everyone did a great job with the tasks they were assigned and were polite and respectful representatives of our school.
Rosella Athletics
Rosella Athletics Team did an amazing job at the recent Port Curtis Athletics.
We had 23 students total who qualified for Port Curtis – 19 of those students were willing/able to participate at the event – and a whopping 14 of them have qualified for the Capricornia event.
This is a massive achievement from a school our size. Nearly a fifth of our school’s students will potentially be heading to Mackay on the 21st and 22nd August.
Miss Harris is on the team of staff to support students at the event so questions about attending can be directed to her on charr512@eq.edu.au
To prepare for the next competition, it is recommended that the athletes participate in training at the Gladstone Athletics oval on Derby St. This training occurs Wednesdays 3:45pm-5pm. Miss Harris and Miss Sally both plan to attend to help our students participate so it would be great to have a good showing there. This training is especially important for students who qualified in field events, as whilst we can run elsewhere this is the only place our students will be able to throw a javelin, discus, shot put and complete a long jump before Mackay.
The Rosella Run Club is currently on pause whilst this other training is on offer – it is recommended runners try attending Gladstone Park Run at 7.00 am on Saturdays at the Lions Park if they wish to have a social running experience. We have a few students who go along and it has made a significant difference in their track times.
Congratulations to the team going to Mackay and great work to everyone for giving any events they try a go. You are all champions!
Sports
Community News
The School Opinion Survey gives you the opportunity to have your say about how your school is performing. The surveys are designed to help schools identify what they do well and how they can improve. This is a great chance to provide feedback. The survey closes 18 August. Find out more about the School Opinion Survey.
Parents and carers play a vital role in supporting children and young people to establish respectful relationships. Having regular conversations about what positive, healthy and equal relationships look like helps children and young people build self-respect and learn to be respectful to others. Learn more about the role parents, carers and schools play in supporting students to develop respectful relationships on the RRE hub.