SOMETHING TO REMEMBER- Bullying is the ongoing consistent and persistent targeting of a person where they are being singled out for something that is demeaning to them. It could be about physical attributes, religious, gender, cultural, racial comments or the like.

STRATEGIC FOCUS- DEEP LEARNING THE 6 C’S

As indicated in a previous newsletter, I wanted to focus on each of our three strategic areas that we are leading within our school for the improvement of learning outcomes for all students.

This work aligns with one of our five ‘touchstones’- Deep and Engaged Learning.

Thanks to our NPDL working party for putting the following together-

At Milton State School, we value deep and engaged learning.  We are continuing to embed  the six global competencies of Deep Learning as a staff within learning opportunities :  Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking. By planning for and focussing on  these competencies in a systematic way we enrich teaching and learning for our students and encourage depth in their learning outcomes.

We use a range and balance of teaching methods to support learning, these include leveraging digital, pedagogical practices, learning environments and learning partnerships. When planning for effective learning we match content with the right method to enhance learning for our students and enrich teaching opportunities. This learning allows our students to develop skills for the future as well as a deeper understanding of content.

Some examples of this work  currently are the collaborative art project in year 1, year 2’s Think out of the Box Thursday,  the HASS WOW days, the year 3 weekly Character focus, just to name  a few.

Each class uses a display of our Cs Tree and adopts split screens to highlight the competency alongside the content so that the connection is highlighted and obvious to our students whilst they are learning within the pertinent series of lessons or lesson.

ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL- EVERY DAY COUNTS!

Every term I undertake a scan of student absences, late arrivals, early departures and appointments during the school day. Overall, our average attendance across the year so far is currently sitting at around 95%, which is a good result.

I have however noticed that for some students, there is a pattern of having numerous days away from school or in particular late arrival to school almost on a daily basis. There are some patterns where students are even absent on a particular day of the week regularly.

What we will be doing is having a conversation with parents to establish why these patterns have emerged and in extreme cases, review the attendance to determine if a child has actually completed enough time at school to progress to the next year level in the coming year.

Because ‘every day counts’ for student attendance, there are some things that you can and may need to do to ensure they are maximising their learning at school-

• Any specialist appointments (OT, Speech Language etc) which are regularly requiring your child to be out of the school must be outside prime learning time- before/ after school or after 1pm during a school day
• If this is the case, you need to have a flexible arrangement form signed off by one of the relevant Deputy Principals – (Kylie Dunne – Prep – Year 2 kdunn34@eq.edu.au )  (Anita Heinrich Year 3-6 ahein8@eq.edu.au )
• You can email the relevant DP to initiate the conversation and completion of the relevant form
• Activities such as external academic tutoring will not be signed off nor accepted as a reason for taking your child out of school between the hours of 9-3pm
• Students need to be at school on time in their classrooms by 9:00am each day (first bell is at 8:50am)
• Arrange for appointments to be outside of school time where possible
• Limit the amount of time you remove your child for extended holidays

We do appreciate the fact that it can be challenging to get your children to school on the odd occasion, whether it be their doing or an incident that has occurred at home etc. What is of great concern is when this becomes a pattern of behaviour.

If you are at a loss in terms of school refusal by your child then alert us to this fact and we can discuss some strategies to assist.

I appreciate the vast majority of you who ensure that your child is at school, on time, ready for their learning each day.

SOME REMINDERS:

I feel that it is timely for me to just provide some important reminders:

1. Please ensure that your child is wearing a helmet if riding to and from school. Whilst it is only law to do so when on a bike, I have seen many who wear one when on a scooter or skateboard too.
2. Students and adults are to dismount and walk/carry their bike, skateboard or scooter once in the school grounds and similarly upon departure.
3. Students are not to be playing before school in Gregory Park unless supervised by an adult. We expect that if they are walking to school etc, that they would come directly to school and not leave the grounds for any reason. There is school provided adult supervision on the oval from 8:30am each morning.
4. Students are not to be at school before 8:30am, unless supervised by an adult or they are attending MOSHC, swimming squad, chess, choir or the like.
5. All students need to be wearing full school uniform each day unless otherwise informed by their teacher for special occasions. This includes a broad brimmed or bucket hat.
6. Please ensure that your child is at school by 8:50am when the first bell is played. We want all students seated and ready for learning at 9:00am. Arriving late can mean that they miss out on important instructions and information about the day ahead in the classroom.
7. If you take your child out of school for an extended holiday during school term time, it is not the responsibility of the class teacher to ‘catch up’ your child on work which may have been missed. If it is for a period of over 10 days of school which they will be absent, you must complete an exemption from school form which can be completed at the school reception, which I will then sign off.
8. Please ensure that all animals are tethered outside the school as they are not to be on school property. It is best to ensure they are a good distance away from the entrance points and are on a shot leash so they cannot run at a passing student or adult.

Thank you for attending to these important points which allow our school to run smoothly and efficiently.

NEW MURALS

Thanks to the P&C Association, we have a wonderful new mural to brighten up the MOSHC courtyard which spans the length of the outdoor stage. It has just been completed by artist Bowie Dunne after feedback and ideas from students, along with the new school crest on the multi-purpose wall facing Gregory Park. The school crest needed to be repainted due to significant graffiti. 

Kind regards,
Paul Zernike
Principal
pzern1@eq.edu.au