Principal Update
Key Summary
P&C Meeting- thanks for attending last night. AGM to be held 16th March 2021.
School Priorities- our key priorities in 2021 relate to English planning, teaching and assessment aligned to the Australian Curriculum, tracking student progress and the implementation of Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) across our school.
Teacher Information Sessions- this afternoon, bookings required for 3:20pm or 4pm sessions.
2021 Leaders- student appointment and badge presentation next week.
Reading at Wondall- overview of our reading approaches to school.
Technology Increasing- we have new ipads and laptops being deployed in classrooms.
Early Start- our prep students completed Early Start activities to track their literacy understanding.
Religious Education- RI will commence in the coming weeks for students in Years 1-6.
Food Aware- with an increasing number of students with food allergies, please consider the foods being sent to school with your child.
Enrol for 2022- our waitlist for 2022 enrolments are now open.
As we commence Week 3, our official numbers for the year have been set with 698 students enrolled in the school.
P&C Meeting
School Priorities
Each year, schools identify priority areas that will shape the direction of the teaching and learning in the school. The table below provides a summary of our key priority areas and these will be unpacked with our school community throughout the year. We are particularly excited to become a Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) school and encourage parents to be involved in our PBL committee to be established in the coming weeks.
Teacher Information Sessions
All classes will be holding parent information sessions this afternoon. Parents are required to book in for a session (capped at 15 people) for either 3:20-3:50pm or 4-4:30pm. Supervision for Wondall students will be available in the hall allowing you to attend your session.
2021 Student Leaders
At the end of 2020, our Year 5 students nominated for school leadership positions. It was fantastic to see the high interest in student leadership positions and all students did a wonderful job in the different selection stages. These consisted of nomination, shortlisting, interviews and delivery of speeches. Our 2021 leaders will be officially appointed at a badge session with an audience of their Year 6 peers and parents next week. Congratulations to:
| School Captains | Brandon, Kate and Cameron |
| Cultural Captains | Charlotte and Ella |
| Environment Captain and EcoMarines | Dean, Giselle, Lily and Ellie |
| Innovation Captain | Rylie |
| Romans Captain | Luke |
| Vikings Captain | Rylie |
| Spartans Captain | Cruz |
| Trojans Captain | Tatum |
Reading at Wondall
This week, sees the start of Guided Reading occurring in our classrooms for the year. Guided Reading is a rich and valuable teaching and learning process, whereby teachers and teacher aides work with small, targeted groups of students, focusing on the teaching of reading and comprehension using good quality, instructional texts.
Guided Reading is a valued and integral part of our day at Wondall. Prep-Year 3 classes will be engaging in four Guided Reading sessions per week and Year 4-6 classes will be engaging in three Guided Reading sessions per week. Our teacher aides will support all Guided Reading sessions.
Through Guided Reading, classroom teachers will have the opportunity to read with every child in their class, each week. This will ensure students are reading books at their own level and have specific, individual goals to know how to improve their own reading.
Home reading books will also be given to students, to work on their strategies at home, particularly in the lower year levels. Students in the upper year levels will be encouraged to read books borrowed from the school library or from their personal libraries.
Please check out the following website for parent guides to help support your child in reading at each year level.
Technology Increasing
We are excited to be investing in additional devices to support student learning at school. We have this set of iPads ready to go into classrooms and in exciting news, have more devices on their way!
Coming soon:
- 30 new laptops
- 30 new iPads
- storage charging trolleys for all of our devices
Early Start
In the past week, our Preps have been participating in the Early Start Literacy program designed to track progress and monitor growth in literacy in the early years of schooling. For more information about Early Start, please visit the website below.
Religious Instruction
In the coming weeks, Religious Instruction will commence at Wondall Height State School.
Queensland state schools embrace a multitude of cultural, religious and non-religious beliefs. Under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, schools are to provide Religious Instruction (RI) if approached by a faith group seeking to provide RI and students of that faith attend the school.
RI informs students about the beliefs and values of religion, through the Baptist, Anglican and Christian faiths. It is delivered by volunteers of a faith group using instructional materials approved by that faith group. RI is required to be consistent with legislation and Department of Education policies and procedures.
All RI instructors must hold a blue card and participate in compulsory Student Protection and Code of Conduct training. RI instructors are only entitled to deliver approved programs. A school staff member will be present during the delivery of RI.
Participation in RI is not compulsory. Any student (except Prep students) may participate in RI if a parent has provided written instructions to the school.
Students are allocated to RI based on information provided by parents on the completed Application for student enrolment unless other written instructions have been provided to the school.
Note: This consent remains in effect unless the parent informs the school otherwise in writing.
Other Instruction
Students who are not participating in RI will be provided with other instruction in a separate supervised location. Other instruction will be revision, new concepts and learning will not be introduced in this time.
An opt-out letter will be sent home this week. Please sign and return by Friday 12 February, if you do NOT wish for your child to participate in RI lessons.
Food Aware
With an increasing number of our students having food allergies, we ask for your support by talking with your children and reminding them to:
* not sharing food with other students
Enrol for 2022
The 2022 Prep waiting list is now open. Information about the 2022 Prep Enrolment process can be found on the school’s website. To register your interest please visit the school office during office opening hours. Information on Out of Catchment for other year levels is also available.
