MIDDLE SCHOOL CAMPUS | Paradise Road | Slacks Creek Q 4127 | PO Box 2798 - Logan City DC 4114

JUNIOR SCHOOL CAMPUS | Borman Street | Slacks Creek Q 4127 | PO Box 2798 - Logan City DC 4114

Telephone: 3386 5333| Fax: 3386 5300 | email: admin@mabelparkss.eq.edu.au | www.mabelparkss.eq.edu.au Page 1

Every Student – Whatever it takes! Curriculum - Pedagogy – Relationships

Term 3 - 2020 NAIDOC 2020 – ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE.

NAIDOC week has been moved to the 8 -15 November this year due to the impact of COVID-19. As this celebration is very important to us here at Mabel Park State School we made a decision to engage Greg Driese in workshops in Week 1 this term for our Year 4, 5 and 6 students and to focus our efforts in a Grand Cultural Celebration in the new NAIDOC week later in the year. We are hopeful at that time we will be able to invite parents into the School at this time to celebrate with us.

Community Education Counsellor

While we were sad to say Good Bye to our wonderful Community Education Counsellor Aunty Vicki Campbell we are so very excited to announce our new Community Education Counsellor Shania Paulson. Shania joins us from Beaudesert SHS and brings with her a passion for Community, Sport, and Language. Shania has been working very hard to meet all our students. She works both within classes with students and in structured activities both breaks every day. Shania has been learning with one of our finest, Miss Teresa Radicke.

Cultural Language Facilitator

We are very excited to welcome our first Cultural Language Facilitator Miss Kimberley Irwin to our School. Kimberley will be working in every class, every week delivering a Cultural Language lesson alongside the usual classroom teacher.

COVID-19 Update

We developed stringent health, hygiene and social distancing processes to commit to the Department of Education’s expectations and while it is unfortunate that we are still limited by not permitting parents or carers on site, the reason for

From the Principal – Jennifer Skeahan

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this is that we need to monitor at all times the numbers of adults (including staff) who are meeting and conversing on the school grounds. Thank you for your understanding.

Social distancing is still very much a priority for everyone within the School and within the Community. We need to make sure that our students are washing hands regularly, not sharing food, cleaning our resources and separated as much as we can wherever possible. The safety of everyone is our priority!

Mabel Park SS is Cashless

Our online ordering for the tuckshop has been very successful, thank you to all parents and carers for your support. Please also remember that the tuckshop is only providing food at first break at present.

When the time comes to reintroduce incursions and excursions we will also be requesting that payments are made online.

Thank you everyone for your continued support in this peculiar time in history, your commitment to our school is outstanding!

Jennifer Skeahan

Due to COVID-19 and current restrictions, School Events will not be advertised at this time.

EALD Strategies

At Mabel Park, we are very fortunate to have students and teachers who come from many different countries and cultural backgrounds. This gives us many opportunities to learn about how people from other parts of the world live, the foods they eat and the languages they speak. We are also very fortunate to have Miss Mellor working as an EAL/D coach (the acronym EAL/D stands for English as an Additional Language or Dialect). Miss Mellor works with our teachers to develop their knowledge and skills to support students who speak another language at home. Our Prep students have been working with Miss Mellor on their retell of the story “Mr Gumpy’s Motor Car” using some different strategies to support students to develop their oral language and writing skills. The pictures below show how Prep 2 used the “Talk in the Tent” strategy to discuss the beginning of the story, then respond orally using sentences.

Upcoming Events

Deputy Principal – Ms Alexis Bell

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Prep 2021 Enrolments

We are now taking enrolments for Prep 2021. If you have a child who is 4 years old, or who has turned 5 since the beginning of July, or know somebody who does, please call the school on 3386 5333 to organise collection of an enrolment pack. This website has a calculator to help you find out if your child is eligible to start Prep in 2021. You will need to show a birth certificate for the child you are enrolling to complete the enrolment process. If you do not have a birth certificate for your child, please follow this link to find out how to apply for one.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge is an annual state-wide initiative for Queensland state and non-state schools and home-educated students from Prep to Year 9, as well as children (aged up to 5 years) enrolled in an early childhood centre. Children and students who complete the challenge have their efforts recognised through the receipt of a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier of Queensland. For a student to successfully complete the Premier's Reading Challenge they are required to read or experience the number of books indicated below:

Prep to Year 2—read or experience 20 books.

Years 3 to 4—read 20 books.

Years 5 to 9—read 15 books.

Experiencing a book includes classroom or at home activities such as shared reading, listening and reading along with a book, or being read to.

The requirement for Year 5 through to Year 9 students to read 15 books rather than 20 books acknowledges that older students are likely to select longer, more complex books that may take them longer to read.

Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability. While there is no compulsory reading list for the challenge, book lists are available to help students, teachers, parents and guardians select appropriate reading material.

The Premier's Reading Challenge aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read for pleasure and learning.

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What a fantastic start to Term 3 we have had! Walking through the Year 2 and Year 3 classrooms it is clear that students and teachers are already focused in on their core learning for the Term, with some strong persuasive statements coming from our Year 2s (dogs are better than cats!) and Truffala Trees sprouting up in our Year 3 classrooms. Keep up the great work everyone!

IMPACT Term 3

This term our IMPACT enrolment moves across to 2.1 and all of our Year 4 classes. Through dynamic web conferencing lessons in a virtual classroom, students will be connecting with expert teachers to develop their reading in a Comprehension IT course. We’ve had some really positive feedback from

NCCD

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with a Disability is a process that takes place each year. In our first weeks of Term 3, teachers are busily recording information about our students with a disability in a confidential format. This information is then used by the Australian Government to make funding decisions. Information for parents and carers can be viewed on the fact sheet below, or by following this link:

https://www.nccd.edu.au/sites/default/files/fact%20sheet%20for%20parents%20guardians%20and%20carers.pdf

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact our Head of Inclusion – Vickie Hart.

Deputy Principal – Mrs Stacey Wood

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NAIDOC Incursion

On Thursday 16 July, Indigenous Author, Artist and Song Writer Gregg Driese visited Mabel Park to perform for students in Year 4, 5 and 6. Unfortunately, with current COVID-19 restrictions still in place, we are not able to invite parents and Community in for our usual NAIDOC Parade and Expo, so Gregg’s concert will be part of our NAIDOC celebrations for 2020.

Gregg Dreise is an artist, storyteller and musician, and he features the didgeridoo and guitar in his performances at schools, libraries and festivals. He is a descendant of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi people of south-west Queensland and north-west New South Wales.

Gregg is the author and illustrator of Silly Birds, Kookoo Kookaburra and Mad Magpie which can be found in our school Library. He has performed at Mabel Park State School before.

Our Middle Campus students and teachers thoroughly enjoyed Gregg’s performances!

Deputy Principal – Mr Omen Facto

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MPSHS Visit

On Friday 17 July, representatives from Mabel Park State High School visited the Middle Campus to speak to our Year 6 cohort about enrolling at MPSHS for 2021. A number of scholarships and excellence programs are on offer for 2021. Parent are encouraged to contact the high school directly for information or to collect an enrolment pack.

School Photos

School photos will take place on Tuesday 4 August and Wednesday 5 August. Envelopes have gone home with students this week. This year, as part of our photo package, each Year 6 student will receive a free copy of the Year 6 photograph in their graduation pack at the end of the year. More information is included in a flyer at the end of this newsletter. Please contact the office if you have any questions.

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Attendance

It has been fantastic to see so many students Here, Every day, Ready and On time for the start of Term 3.

Maintaining high attendance is a priority for us at Mabel Park State School. Help us reach our target of 95% attendance.

It is important to be at school every day. If your child is NOT at school then they are NOT learning.

Congratulations to 2.1 for achieving 96.8% for their class attendance in Week 1.

Our overall school attendance at the end of Week 1 was 84.2%.

Please continue to contact the school if your child is unwell by:

Ringing the school – 07 33865333

Replying to the SMS sent by the school

Writing a note explaining the absence

Year Level Attendance

PREP 83.6% YEAR 4 84.7%

YEAR 1 79.8% YEAR 5 84.4%

YEAR 2 88.9% YEAR 6 84.6%

YEAR 3 83.8% Overall Middle Campus 84.6%

Overall Junior Campus 84%

Are your contact details up to date?

In the event of an emergency or accident, the school MUST be able to contact you immediately by telephone, so we need to have the most up-to-date information on our system.

Please keep us updated with any new home address, telephone number and email addresses.

‘NO HAT, NO PLAY’ Policy

From the Head of Curriculum – Student Services – Teresa Radicke

We continue to promote sun safety practices with the ‘NO HAT, NO PLAY’

policy. Students without a hat will not be able to play during lunch time and

will sit in the designated areas.

It is a requirement that students have a hat everyday as it is part of our uniform

policy.

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PBL

Students participated in our Switch On Program during Week 1 to re-establish expectations in the classroom and daily routines and procedures. PBL lessons align with our school values of TRUST, COURAGE and RESPECT.

Our PBL Focus for Week 2 is to Follow Playground Expectations.

Please ask your child what we talked about during PBL lessons each week. You can positively reinforce and talk about the lessons, constantly reminding your child of the core values in which we are focusing on.

Road Safety

Walking to and from school safely

• plan your walking routes • avoid busy roads, if possible • choose a place to cross the road where you can clearly see it is safe to cross • walk the extra distance to use a pedestrian crossing, traffic island, pedestrian lights or overhead bridge, if available • walk on the far right-hand side of the road facing oncoming traffic, when there is no footpath • never approach unknown dogs

Before you cross the road:

• unplug your earphones and put away your phone • avoid crossing between parked cars or at the front or back of buses and large vehicles • at intersections, check for turning vehicles before you leave the kerb • look out before you step out

Using pedestrian crossings

• stop at the kerb until cars have completely stopped, as drivers don't always see you • try and make eye contact with the driver before you cross, so you know they have seen you • when safe, promptly walk across the road, continually scanning and listening for oncoming traffic

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The Rainbow Room

School provides the opportunity for all children to become active members of their community and make friends with their same age peers.

The Rainbow Room is a place where students are able to participate in structured play at both first and second break.

The Rainbow Room provides opportunities for meaningful relationships, but unfortunately just “being there” won’t be enough for deep authentic friendships to be built. Together schools and families can increase the possibility of students with disability making and keeping friends by being intentional in nurturing relationships.

The Rainbow Room:

Keep expectations high – expect inclusion and friendship.

Allows staff to role model the way students should be seen, spoken about and encouraged to participate.

Many students (not just with disability need a bit more structure to connect with their peers – particularly in the playground. They don’t need a “program” but thoughtful intervention to help join in games, or for adults to initiate some activities so they can more easily participate.

RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS:

Keep expectations high – expect inclusion and friendship.

Actively nurture positive roles and ways to make a contribution within the school e.g. a choir member, a fundraiser, a library volunteer, the school photographer.

Friendships deepen when a child participates in an area of interest alongside classmates e.g. swimming club, environment group. If interests are unclear, try the typical/popular activities for the student’s age/gender.

Expand your imagination about HOW every child can participate alongside their peers – think creatively.

Pay attention to the patterns of friendship at any particular age; help the student to understand socially-valued activities and ways of relating.

Speak positively. Don’t allow others to spread messages about the child which might unwittingly undermine their image opportunities for friendships.

Inclusive Education – Vickie Hart

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FOR FAMILIES:

Be brave! Don’t ignore signs of friendship on offer because you are afraid of rejection.

Be a detective – notice opportunities for shared activities alongside peers within and outside school.

Promote a positive image for your child through their presentation and social skills, and, when older, their use of social media. Help them share interesting things that people may not necessarily know.

Hang out with other families e.g. local soccer club, Friday afternoon plays at the park, swimming lessons - so you and your child can be known. Nurture your own social connections in the school community – even if it means being more social than you would normally choose.

Ask teachers who your child likes, and regularly invite children to your home or on outings. Try not to overthink the chance for rejection because play dates are a powerful strategy for making friends and a great opportunity for other students to know your child and their interests better. You can also share helpful information informally: “Stacey loves to play hopscotch. It helps her to jump if a friend holds her hand”.

Host birthday parties and other celebrations, such as end of term celebrations.

Consider developing a “circle of support” or “bunch of mates” which meets at school or out of school as an intentional strategy to connect a student with disability with their peers.

thegoodlife.cru.org.au/circles

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