Term 1 Week 2
Principal Update
Welcome back to all our students and families for the 2025, and a very special welcome to those new to our school and town. I am so proud of our school for such a strong start to the year. Everyone has settled in so well and I thank our wonderful staff, students and families for your contribution to this.
This year we welcome 3 new staff and 1 returning to our school. One Tuesday next week we are having a meet and greet BBQ for families to come and say hi to their teachers, new or existing. Our new teachers are Hannah Calcino, Nikita Sehl and Stacey Sheather. We also welcome back Campbell Evans to Winton SS this year. It is a big life moment to uplift your life and relocate to a rural and isolated town such as Winton, we are grateful they have chosen to live and work here and thank the community for making them feel welcome. We also welcome a number of new Teacher Aides to our school; Rikki Walker, Kerry Anderson, Katie Pacey, Jaxi Allan. Sheree Banning is also now working with us 4 days a week, shared between Teacher Aide and the Chappy role.
At the end of 2024 I hosted an information evening for 2025, and one of the key things I spoke about was this year our focus is high expectations for all (staff, students and families). Our students are capable of amazing things and our expectation of all stakeholders needs to enable them to work to and achieve their highest potential. To support this, each week we will have a behaviour focus, sometimes a focus might carry over more than one week depending on what is happening in our school at the time and the need. The intention is to ensure that we are explicitly teaching students what we expect of them. For the first two week our focus has been on our classroom routines. This is consistent across every classroom and teacher in the school, so our students know what is expected of them every time they go to class regardless of where it is or who the teacher is.
This year we will be running an after school detention room, which will commence in week 3. Mandy Smith (HOD Secondary), Campbell Evans (HOD Primary) or myself may issue an after school detention to a student as an escalation of consequences. If a student is issued an after school detention they have already had a range of strategies put in place by the classroom teacher, and their behaviour is not improving. While we don't expect it will be required often, it is important for families and students to be aware that this is part of our behaviour process and if student conduct is not appropriate there are escalating consequences. Detention room will run on a Tuesday from 2:50pm-3:20pm, parents will be notified prior if their student has been issued with an after school detention.
It is timely as we start the year to remind our community that we have a Parent and Community Code of Conduct. We are grateful for the support of our families and community, and the positive promotion and engagement we have with everyone. If at any time you do have an issue, concern or question we expect that it is respectfully addressed through the school. You can contact the office for information on our complaints management process.
You will hear me speak constantly through the year about attendance. It is essential students are at school, on time every day unless they are unwell or have extenuating circumstances. We deliver a jam-packed curriculum and assessment program, and it is very difficult for your student to learn and grow with inconsistent attendance. It is also the law, a minimum of 92% is expected under s176 (1)(b) of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, which states "each parent of a school ag child has the legal obligation to ensure their child is attending school everyday". This includes up to the end of term, students will be completing assessment in week 10 of the term and are expected to be at school until Friday 4th April.
Sometime next week you will a course and assessment planner for your students. This will show when their assessment will occur across the term. We will complete and distribute these each term, therefore term 2 on will be blank for now and we will add to across the year. This will allow you to discuss assessment with your students and see the timelines for their work. This is always subject to change, however will be a helpful guide for parents to see what is occurring across the term with regards to assessment.
Thank you again for a great start to the school year. We appreciate all our families do to support our students and school. We are looking forward to a great year ahead.
Take care,
Meggin
Pancake Breakfast
A huge thank you to Shai, Chloe, and the Winton Shire Council for providing our school with a fantastic pancake breakfast! Our students and staff truly appreciated the delicious start to the day.
3/4 Report
WOW, what a great first two weeks we have had in 3/4 this term!
Students have been great at learning new routines and giving every activity 100% effort. Students have been proud to put together great class work which is already going up on the walls to both 'show off' and to recall fantastic learning happening in the classroom.
We look forward to meeting as many parents and carers as possible next Tuesday afternoon 11th February from 4.30pm.
In English students are reading the novel 'Fantastic Mr Fox' and will be looking at how to write and present an interesting and engaging book review. While in Math, students have been exploring mapping and grid references. See below some great pictures the students have made on their IPADS demonstrating their knowledge of prepositions. Prepositions are words that express location or position between two objects.
Have a great week!
Mrs Sheather & Mr Evans
2025 iPads
We've had a fantastic start to the year, with iPads now being implemented in the classroom! Students have been enjoying the new technology and enhancing their digital skills. We're excited to see the many ways these devices will support learning throughout the year. Thank you for your support!
Tuckshop
We’re excited to announce that tuckshop will be run internally again this year, thanks to Caroline Sciascia! Below is the menu and be sure to keep an eye on our Facebook page for the weekly special homemade meal.
Parade
Parade will continue to be held every Monday at 2:30 PM, and families are welcome to attend. We’d love to see you there to celebrate our students' successes!
Congratulations to this week’s Exceeding Expectations award recipients!
CW Swimming
A big thank you to Mr. Evans and Ms. Calcino for taking our students to Barcaldine for the CW swimming trials. Well done to all the students who trailed —we are proud of your efforts and sportsmanship!
Upcoming Calendar Dates
Badge ceremony & parade -10th February (2:30pm)
Meet & Greet BBQ - 11th February (4:30-5:30)
Cowboys NRL Visit- 25th February
NAPLAN- 18th & 19th March
National Ride to School Day- 21st March
Cross Country- 21st March
WSS vs Emergency Services Dodgeball- 27th March