Term 2 Week 5
Principals Update
It is hard to believe we are now halfway through term 2. Thank you for your support to date and in advance for your continued support across the remainder of the term.
In line with other State Schools across Queensland, we are transitioning to QParents as our main means of communicating and sharing information. As such, we will now be issuing report cards through QParents rather than via email. If you do not have an active QParents account, please use the next few weeks to get this established. It is a fairly simple process, however does require you to complete an ID check. Please contact the office for assistance if you require. We have previously emailed unique links to families and can provide these again if required.
This week I sent home assessment calendars for this term. It is important to note across all grades there is assessment occurring up to and including week 10, students should be in attendance right up to 27th June. We will be issuing report cards early term 3. It is important that we maximise teaching, learning and assessment time in every term to ensure students have the best opportunity to demonstrate their learning and growth. Especially with interruptions that occur in every term, we need to use every possible day to assess. If students do have a planned absence towards the end of term, can you please let the office know ASAP.
We were fortunate recently to participate in the skateboarding workshops with Chiggy. While this experience was a whole lot of fun, it was actually so much more for the kids. The resilience they showed in trying something new, the persistence they showed in continually trying and the trust they placed in the experts to assist them on the ramps and with tricks was so beautiful to see. Valuable lessons are learnt outside the classroom, just as much as inside and we certainly saw that on display during this event.
The Opera Festival was a highlight for the town and our school. Our kids enjoyed a music workshop and a number them chose to perform prior to the show. We also were fortunate to welcome to special dignitaries to our school in that week. Sean Dillon MP, Minister John-Paul Langbroek (Education & The Arts) and his wife Stacey, Chief of Staff Tim, Director-General Sharon Schimming and Deputy Director-General Leanne Nixon. We are really proud of our tiny but mighty school and enjoyed welcoming our guests to see the wonderful work we are doing.
Do it for Dolly was recognised early in May, and at school we were fortunate to host a range of activities for our students. You would have seen that all students bought home a cattle tag and wristband, we thank PHN for their support as we were successful in a grant to purchase these and provide the sausage sizzle. The grant we received was sufficient to allow us to also provide cattle tags to St Pat's students and visiting LSODE students. It was an honour for our school to pioneer this event in the community and we look forward to making it bigger and better in years to come. It is important though that we continue the two key messages from this day with our students and community everyday, that is to 'be kind' and 'speak, even if your voice shakes'.
Can I please ask families to make arrangements for the correct winter uniform. Our high expectations include uniform, and it is important that regardless of the season our students represent themselves, our school and the community with pride. It sets the tone for our school. We have spare jumpers and trackpants here and as with shorts and shoes, students will be supported to wear the correct uniform every day.
Please mark your calendars for athletics carnival coming up on 13th June. We are also convening the Central West athletics trials which will be early term 3. It will be great for the CW schools to travel to Winton for this event, as our kids, staff and families are so committed to travelling all over the place for sport. We are also very much looking forward to the show and our students have some outstanding work to enter and display.
Thanks for your ongoing support, our next newsletter will be issued in week 10.
Take care,
Meggin
Kindy Learning Report
P/1/2 Learning Report
The Year 1 and 2’s are learning all things information reports and plants in preparation for their assessment where they have to write an information report on a chosen plant. We did a practice information report on a sunflower so we know what to do!
In HASS, the Prep, Year 1, and Year 2’s are learning about the seasons and how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture enhance our understanding of the seasons.
Yr 3/4 Learning Report
Math: Students are investigating number patterns including related addition & subtraction facts, using arrays to work out multiplication problems and partitioning (to break down into smaller parts) larger numbers.
Technology: Students have been busy recycling stationary containers to use as pot plants for their sustainable gardening unit and have been painting them to match the theme of Winton's 150 years and submit these wonderful pieces into the show.
Science: Students have been investigating their favourite animal, understanding their survival needs and their life cycle.
HASS: Students have been putting together a diary entry focussing on what they think life would have been like being a part of the burke and wills journey.
English: We have been working on our Informative Texts for the last couple of weeks. To start we wrote informative texts about our favourite animals, and this week we have worked on texts about amazing inventions. In Week 7 we will start our informative text assessment which will be on Qantas. We have also worked on our narratives for the Show so keep your eyes open when touring the Pavilion!
Yr 5/6 Learning Report
Recently in Years 5 and 6, we’ve been busy preparing for the upcoming show. In Science, we explored the scale of the planets in our solar system, comparing their size and distance from the sun. Using this knowledge, we created our own model solar systems, carefully aiming for accuracy in both size and scale. In English, we’ve been writing narratives for the show, drawing on our understanding of themes and tone developed through our study of Holes. In Maths, our focus has been on using the order of operations and solving equations with missing values. Although students initially found these concepts unfamiliar, they are quickly building confidence and deepening their understanding.
HASS: Civics and Citizenship, leadership changes since the Federal election, levels of government and areas of responsibility.
Yr 7/8 Learning Report
7/8 HASS: Students are investigating the impact humans have on landscapes and landforms. Students are participating in depth studies on volcanoes and mountain landscapes in preparation for their exam in Week 9.
7/8 English: Students receive their assessment on Monday Wk 6 where they will be constructing a persuasive multimodal presentation on the advantages or disadvantages of social media for teenagers.
7/8 Science: The Year 7/8 Science class completed several experiments relating to examination of the different types of forces encountered every day during the last two weeks including gravitational, electrostatic and magnetic forces. These experiments proved to be instructive learning activities, and the students were enthusiastic and engaged participants in these activities. Next week, the second portion of the Physics Unit will commence and focus on understanding of the forces in motion with simple machines such as pulleys and levers.
7/8 Math: The Year 7/8 Maths class completed a solid amount of work concentrating on the application of geometric concepts and understanding the principles of reflection, rotation and translation of objects in mathematical terms.
Yr 9/10 Learning Report
English: Students receive their assessment on Wednesday Wk 6 where they will analyse satirical political cartoons and synthesise the impact that such cartoons and the use of satire have on social commentary. Students will present their analysis in a vlog format.
Science: The Year 9/10 Science class continued to progress well through the Physics Unit and concentrated on light and electrical energy. Experimental investigations focussed on how light is reflected and bent through different mirrors and lenses. Next week, a series of practical activities involving electric currents will be completed in the Science lab.
Math: The Year 9/10 Maths class has made very good progress on the Shape and Measurement unit focussing on understanding Trigonometry ratios and applying trigonometry to solve everyday real-world problems. Additionally, this class examined geometry of various shapes and using well-established Maths rules to compare different shapes.
Yr 11 Learning Report
General Math: The Year 11 class has completed all work on Unit 1 in the General Maths syllabus and next week a 90-minute exam will be completed by the students. Following, this exam, work will commence of the Unit 2 part of the General Maths syllabus. Unit 2 of the General Maths syllabus consists of a significant component of Algebra with Matrices, Trigonometry and Statistics also prevalent.
Biology: Students completed a data test about 2 weeks ago and satisfactory results were attained. Work since this data tests has concentrated on the conducting of several experiments which will form the basis of the upcoming Student Experiment Assessment which will commence next week. Solid progress has made achieved on the theory component of the Unit 1 Biology syllabus and this unit of work is expected to be completed by the end of Term 2.
Essential English: Exam Preparation - analysing visual texts
Science in Practice: We have successfully grown bacterial cultures from high-traffic areas around the school! Our aim is to test the effectiveness of different commonly used cleaning products: Dettol, multi-purpose cleaner, vinegar, and eucalyptus oil. We will achieve this by examining the zone of inhibition that will hopefully form around the cleaning product disc.
11/12 Agricultural Practices
The boys have planned and created the irrigation systems for their garden beds. To make the designs as sustainable as possible, they have used dripper line and automatic timers. Khai and Zayden opted for a spiral layout to reach as much of the round garden bed as possible, whereas Charlie, Wayde, and Pat have run lines of irrigation to make their planting more straightforward. We will see in a couple of weeks which design is the more effective.
Health & Physical Education
P/1/2 Health: Students are continuing their investigation on how their body changes when they participate in physical activity.
3/4/5/6/7/8 PE: With the Athletics carnival looming, students are refining their athletics schools, having honed their shot put, long jump and sprinting techniques.
Art
P-6: Show work
Yr 7-8: Learning about the history and artworks of Albert Namatjira and water colour painting
Yr 9: Learning about art displays and preparing to host a Year 9 Art Exhibition
Yr 12: Finishing artwork commission for their clients