15th October 2019

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Pupil Free Day On Monday the 21st of October all state schools across Queensland are involved in a range of moderation and professional development activities. Students are not required to attend school on this day.

Prep Orientation We will be hosting our Prep Orientation information evening on Thursday 17th October at 5:30pm in the Prep classrooms. I look forward to meeting with parents and helping to ensure a smooth transition to school for your child in 2020.

Our first visits to classrooms start on Tuesday 22nd October for our 2020 Prep students. This is a great opportunity for children to experience a morning at school and I encourage all of our new Prep students to attend. Swimming Well done to our Year 1, 4 & 6 students, who commenced swimming lessons last Friday. Swimming will continue for these students each Friday for another seven weeks. All children are required to wear a swim shirt or t-shirt for sun safety. Please make sure all belongings are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

P&C Meeting – 15th October 5pm During this meeting we will be finalising the decision about student reports. The proposal is to simplify the reporting process by issuing grades only for effort and achievement in each of the subject areas. A personalised overall comment and a behaviour comment will be written by class teachers. Additional Information about what students are learning will be disseminated to parents at the beginning of each term, rather than through the report card. Student Council News! On Thursday student council will be holding their first fundraiser for term 4! Students will be able to come to school in free dress for a gold coin donation and all proceeds will be donated to LifeFlight. Ice cream and jelly will also be available on the day as well as some fun activities run by student council. Ice cream and jelly will cost $2 and will be available at first break in the undercover area. During our conversations in meetings last term it was evident that many families in our school community have a connection with LifeFlight or CareFlight. This is our opportunity to give back and say thank you. Anthony, a LifeFlight paramedic will be visiting the school on the 28th October. Please encourage your children to give a personal thank you to Anthony to take back to his colleagues if given the opportunity.

ENROLMENTS FOR 2020 Please call 4120 2222 if you know of anyone interested in enrolling their child/children at St Helens next year. We have positions available in prep and various year levels for the 2020 school year.

Monday 21st October Student Free Day Friday’s Swimming for 1,4 & 6 Friday 6th December Yr 6 Graduation lunch Monday 9th December End of Year Concert Brolga Theatre 6:30

2 St Helens News

Attendance

Last week we recorded the highest level of attendance for Semester 2. I would like to congratulate all of our students for making such a positive start to the term. Research shows that students who have a good attendance record are more likely to achieve high results. Going shopping, visiting family, staying up late and being tired or extending school holidays are not acceptable reasons to be away from school. Below is a table of our attendance data for last week.

Aldridge Scholars Program Students involved in the Aldridge Scholars Program, will recommence their lessons at Aldridge High School on Friday 18th October continuing through each Friday morning until Friday 29th October. Tips to Help Your Children Learn Help your child to be organised and ready for learning. Keep a calendar and mark important school events. Have a safe place for notes to be kept so that they don’t get lost. Regularly check that your child has their equipment for class and a hat for school. Tuckshop News!! Just a friendly reminder that tuckshop can be ordered online Please follow the instructions below.

Book Club Issue 7 of Book Club is due back this Friday 18th of October.

Prep – Preps enjoyed reading a postcard from Mrs Rice which came all the way from New Zealand! We have been talking about all the different types of mail and they journey our mail takes to get from the postal box to an address. 1H- In maths this week, we are learning about complex number stories and ways to efficiently work them out. For example, “Leo bought 16 cupcakes from the bakery. 4 were chocolate, 6 were vanilla. How many were strawberry?” Use some household items such as fruit, containers, lego bricks, or dolls to set some scenes and ask your child to show how they worked it out. This is a concept that will be assessed later in the term. Also, a quick reminder about the notes that went home yesterday, regarding parent-teacher interviews and end of year concert. If those could be returned ASAP, that would be greatly appreciated. 1/2A - Ask your child about the puppet they are making in technology this week? 2B – This week we are starting literacy and maths groups again. We hope to see our wonderful volunteers this week to help support our children. Don’t forget that homework is due back to school every Thursday. This allows homework to be checked and changed over so that it is ready to go home on Friday afternoon. 3B - We have been learning about grid mapping. Students have created a grid map for their own theme park. They labelled each axis and created a legend. They had to create a set of instructions for a friend to follow to get from one point to another on their map. If you have any maps from zoos, theme parks or old atlases share these with your child and see if your child can identify the map features.

Term 4 Attendance Data

Prep Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

96.2% 99.2% 98.1% 96.3% 94.7% 97.4% 96.3%

Year to Date School

Average

92.9%

TARGET 95%

3 St Helens News

3C – Last week we experimented with adding a new verse to Dorothea Mackellar’s “My Country”. The children are revising rhythm and rhyme in poetry and will begin looking at onomatopoeia and alliteration this week. In science we puzzled over whether sand was a solid or a liquid, until we looked at some microscopic images of sand and added water to a full container of sand. You will have to ask your children what their conclusion was. This week we will see how matter can change its state from a solid to a liquid and visa-versa. We found that learning our multiplication facts helps us to multiply larger numbers easily and are very determined to learn these facts as part of our home practice.

4H – Parents please remember to help your child bring in one empty cereal box from home by the end of this week. Look out in your child’s bag today for a parent interview note. Parent interviews will be in week 3 and 4.

4S – Parent-Teacher interview notes were sent home yesterday. If you would like to see me for an interview, please return your note by Friday, 18th October, indicating your preferred times. 5D – This week in math we have been learning all about chance and probability. Today we did an investigation exploring events with equally likely outcomes by tossing a coin ten times and recording the results. Maybe students could do another investigation at home with rolling a six-sided dice and recording the results in a table. 5N – Since venn diagrams feature in several of our subjects this term, we’ve spent some time this week using them to enjoy comparisons between some very random things. Our most impressive achievement was finding more than a dozen similarities between a PIZZA and an OCTOPUS. Think of some more comparisons you can make at home. Share them on Class Dojo for the class to try!

6S – The feedback from the first session on swimming was very positive. Could students bring a pair of thongs to travel to and from the pool so that it speeds up the process of getting back to school on time. I look forward to communicating with every parent over the next couple of weeks.

Star of the Week

Prep Possums

Zavia F For your fantastic effort in all activities! Great work Zavia

Prep Wombats

Hurley B For giving his best effort during dancing. Well done Hurley! You are a positive influence to your class.

Year 1/2A Charlotte L-S For a great start to term 4 and showing fantastic commitment towards her learning.

Year 1H Layla S For using your mathematical knowledge to problem solve tricky addition and subtraction number stories. Way to go!

Year 2B Jordyn I For starting term 4 with outstanding listening. Keep up the great work Jordyn!

Year 3C Sharla B For participating enthusiastically in class and giving us fabulous answers.

Year 3B Lilly N For writing an interesting narrative incorporating Super Sentences and WOW words.

Year 4H Bailey C For an excellent start to term 4 and for your great contributions to our science discussions.

Year 4S Rachael B For always putting in 100% effort into her work. Racheal always tries to achieve her best.

Year 5D Marcus G For showing commitment and checking all his working in math. Well done Marcus!

Year 5N Zarlee S For the positive attitude you bring to our class each day. You’re a shining star!

Year 6H Kai F For a terrific start to the term and your great contributions in class discussions.

Year 6S Travis H For your dedication, commitment and outstanding attitude to schooling. You are a true role model.