IMPORTANT DATES

TO STICK ON THE

FRIDGE

FROM THE PRINCIPAL – Tim Loughland Hi Everyone,

July

30th (Friday) – First

Newsletter (Week 3) for Term

3 published and distributed.

August

4th (Wednesday) – First

Homework Centre session begins

for Term 3.

4th (Wednesday) – P&C Meeting

4pm-5pm @Codie’s Place

4th (Wednesday) – Pyjama Day

(Gold Coin Donation Required)

5th (Thursday) – Second

Homework Centre session begins

for Term 3.

10th & 11th (Tuesday &

Wednesday) – District Sports.

13th (Friday) – Second

Newsletter for Term 3

published and distributed.

13th (Friday) – Fright Night

Disco (P-2 5:30pm-6:30pm; 3-6

6:30-7:30pm).

16th (Monday) – Book Week

Starts and Book Fair set-up in

Library.

18th (Wednesday)-20th (Friday)

– Year 4 Camp @Boyne Island

Environmental Education Centre.

20th (Friday) – Book Week

Dress Up Day & Purchasing from

Book Fair.

27th (Friday) – Third

Newsletter for Term 3

published and distributed.

September

2nd (Thursday) – Father’s Day

Stall @ School Hall.

3rd (Friday) – Student Free Day

(End of Week 8).

Welcome to our first newsletter for Term 3! It is so great to be back as

Principal of this wonderful school. I would like to again thank Mrs Tankey,

Mrs Jackson and the whole school team for their hard work throughout

Term 2, during my absence. We have a very busy but enriching Term 3

ahead of us. Please see our important messages below. Thank you for your

support towards our school.

Like our New Facebook Page

Due to the change of a

departmental email address

we needed to start a new

Facebook page. We have

named it ‘Agnes Water State

School #2’ to assist the

community in finding it.

There is also a link below

which should take you

straight to the page for you to click like or follow.

https://www.facebook.com/Agnes-Water-State-School-2-

112484037751785

Fright Night Disco – Friday August 13

Yes, discos are back (in a COVID safe way of course)! Please see the flyer

on the last page of this newsletter with all of the details. We would also

like to invite all our friends from Discovery Christian College, Goora Gan

Steiner School and the Agnes Water Kindergarten.

Quote the

below

number to

donate the

funds to our

school:

C10195832

Principal’s Messages Continued… Premier’s Reading Challenge is Underway!

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is underway again for 2021. There are a range

of opportunities for all students throughout Term 3 and half of Term 4 for

students to participate in the challenge and enjoy reading. Students have been

provided with a ‘Reading Log’ sheet for

them to record all of the books they have

read. To get a certificate from the Premier

P-2 students must read, or have read to

them, 20 age appropriate books. 3-6

students need to read 15 age appropriate

books. Of course, students can read more

than this. Each book points students

accumulate also go towards their sports

house points. The team with the most

points by Week 5 of Term 4 will have a

plaque spot on the Premier’s Reading

Challenge trophy (pictured to the left). So,

students need to remember to bring their

growing Reading Logs in to school regularly

so that the classroom teacher can add the

points to their sports house. Who will win,

Rays, Sharks or Stingers?

Further from reading books and

accumulating points for our sport houses, students also have the

opportunity to be involved in our Premier’s Reading Challenge school-

based competitions. P-2 students have a colouring competition

(pictured above). They are colouring the Premier’s Reading Challenge

mascot. We are looking for the neatest and brightest colouring in! 3-

6 students have the opportunity to design their own book covers from

a current or past book they have read. (pictured to the right). We are

looking for the most creative book cover design that has incorporated

the title, author and the plot of the story. One winner and one runner

up will be chosen from each of our eight classes. Wonderful prizes

are on offer, donated to the students by the school.

To assist students with reading books as part of the Premier’s

Reading challenge and for pure enjoyment at school, we have

purchased 10 camping chairs to form a reading circle

(pictured to the left) in our garden. They are gaining more

popular with the students as the days go on. These are also

nice to sit in the sun and read on a cold winter’s day.

Best of luck to all students and our sports houses for every

success in this year’s Premier’s Reading Challenge. We hope

you enjoy reading as much as the competition and challenges.

Tim Loughland - Principal

Head Of Curriculum – Leigh Tankey

Countdown to Chess!

Congratulations to our new and upcoming

chess team for dedicating to extra training and

working together to teach each other tricky

openings and moves. We will travel to Bundaberg

next Tuesday for the competition. If you know one

of these amazing children can you please challenge

them to a game? We love to keep learning new

tactics.

Handy tip: Instead of asking your child

how their day was and being told, “good…” and

not much more, instead ask, “What is something

you are PROUD of from today?” It might be a

slow answer to start with, but soon they will

automatically start looking for reasons to be proud.

This is a lovely mindset to cultivate.

What are YOU proud of? Give

this a try…

Our staff are amazing.

This week I want to shine a spotlight on our Year 1 teacher, Miss

Tooker. Miss Tooker has been a valuable part of our school

community for many years, making an impact to so many. She

takes pride in the work her students produce and her classroom is

always humming with learning and fun. On top of doing a

brilliant job teaching the curriculum to her lovely class, she also

takes the time to model and teach how to be a ‘bucket filler’ –

creating a little army of kind people who know how to lift

each other up. Thanks Miss Tooker, you really are

AMAZING, and we appreciate you.

How can I help children with reading

in the upper years of schooling?

So often we hear of advice about how to assist our early years

students become more proficient at reading. When children

continue to struggle with reading as they get older it can

prevent learning and comprehension, and also affect their self-

esteem as they may become reluctant to read aloud in front of

others. If you know this applies to your child, they are certainly

not alone and there are some great ideas you can try with them

at home in conjunction with the work we are doing at school.

Firstly, make sure it isn’t a matter of them being unable to

break up larger words with several syllables. Words contain

structural parts and the school spelling program, Words Their

Way, teaches students how to recognise these parts - root

words, beginnings and endings. Sit with them and break

the words into parts. Discuss smaller words they

can find and look for this in reading material that

they like. It is OK if they want to read a fishing magazine or

a comic – the key is to choose something that they have an

interest in and this will motivate them to want to read more.

Once you have found something they are engaged with reading,

you can sit with them and use your finger to follow the words

as you read aloud (this is crucial). Encourage them to read

along with you. Read the same passage every day for a week

and notice how they improve. They will become more fluent

and their reading will speed up with less errors. The key is

daily practice – and lots of praise and positive experiences

around this will ensure their confidence to have a go grows too.

Why do you love our school?

Email Mrs Tankey

ltank1@eq.edu.au with something

that you appreciate. We love

feedback.

Guidance Officer – Matt Fasso

Rock & Water Program at Agnes Water State School

Rock & Water is a personal development program that will

commence at Agnes Water State School in Term 3 for

selected students. Rock & Water is an internationally

renowned program that has been delivered to over 2

million students from 14 countries and is designed to

promote the following life-long learning skills:

• Self-confidence

• Self-reflection

• Emotional resilience

• Self-control

• Empathy

• Conflict resolution

• Self-management

Rock & Water will be delivered over a 12-week period, with students engaging in a range of

physically and emotionally challenging activities to develop greater self-awareness.

Numerous local and international studies have been conducted into the benefits of the Rock &

Water program. These studies have consistently found that students between 10 – 16 years of

age who engaged in the program demonstrated greater developmental growth in within the

interpersonal domain (self-control, emotional regulation and conflict resolution) and

intrapersonal domain (psychological well-being) when compared with students who didn’t

engage in Rock & Water.

Although Rock & Water positions are full for 2021, a new group will commence at the

beginning of 2022. If you would like more information regarding the Rock & Water program,

please contact Mr Fasso (Guidance Officer) at mfass1@eq.edu.au.

Matt Fasso – Guidance Officer

Literacy Support – Pam Mainey

There is nothing like the look on a student’s face when they see improvements in

their handwriting by comparing letters from the start of a lesson to the end. It is

also rewarding to hear the ‘Aha’ moment when a

student learns a spelling rule, understands the

structure of a text, or is able to use a particular

reading strategy. Throughout 2021 in my ‘Literacy

Support’ role, I have been lucky to experience many

of these highlights as I work to strengthen student

understanding in the English learning area. With guidance from their teacher, I

work one-on-one or in small groups, to provide personalised learning. By delivering

support at an individual level, we are able to enhance student access to the

Australian Curriculum. It has been an absolute joy watching each child make

progress and I look forward to the year ahead.

Pam Mainey

Learning Support (Students With Disabilities) – Allison Harris

During a lesson some students catch on quickly. For those children the light bulb

moments happen fairly easily for them and they continue to progress. Students that

don’t catch on have brains that are wired in a particular way and the way we teach

them needs to be adjusted. Often a sight-based activity is not enough.

My role involves working with Students With Disabilities and Learning Difficulties in the

classroom. I assist teachers to modify programs to cater for diversity, create ICPs

(Individual Curriculum Plans) and run interventions and programs working one on one

or with small groups. I love working with these students as it can be both challenging

and rewarding.

The teachers and I have been using a multi-sensory approach to enhance reading

skills to increase the likelihood that a student will remember the words. Multi-sensory

means using different senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell at the same time.

Using multiple senses reinforces students’ strengths and strengthens their

weaknesses.

Multi-sensory literacy activities provide necessary intervention for the students who

need it, while making it fun for all our students.

Using letter tiles

Using smelly pens

Forming letters with pipe cleaners

Hearing letter sounds as you say them & underlining

Pyjama Day Fundraiser

Wednesday 7th of August Wear your pyjamas, stay warm and comfy

in your PJ’s and have fun!!!

Please bring a Gold coin

donation for Year 6 Camp

Fundraising