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2023 School Priorities- a summary of our focussed work
P & C Thanks- huge thanks from all of our students and staff for the P&Cs recent donations to the school.ACE Students- Wondall students attend, are confident and engage in learning
Swimming- lessons have started this week!
Class Information Sessions- dont forget to attend this afternoon!
Facility Works- our facility enhancements
School Attendance- every day counts
BraveHearts Ditto Show- great news, our P&C have fully funded for P-1 students for the Ditto program for later this term
Active School Travel- keep actively travelling to school on Fridays! Park’n’Stride Scavenger Hunt -17 February
2023 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. Our priorities this year, build on our progress in 2022.
P&C Thanks
The staff and students would like to thank our P&C and the collective parent body for their generous donations to our school to support our student initiatives. With fundraising and management of the business units (tuckshop, uniform, swim club and WOSHC) the P&C, at last night’s meeting, were able to commit over $ 170 000 to school enhancements thanks to funds raised!
- $100 000 to go in a holding account and contribute to the development of our Outdoor Learning Classroom (this also includes the money raised from the 2022 colour run!). Funds will continue to be placed towards this project in the coming years.
- $45 000 to go towards placing interactive TVs in every classroom.
- $20 000 towards technology (this will be used to support digital devices across the school).
- $5 000 towards our yarning circle- to be installed during the Easter break.
- Approximately $4 500 to provide free student safety and Life Education programming for Prep-Year 1 and Year 5-6 students.
- $1 000 towards our students’ garden and sustainability club.
Thank you! Thank you, thank you! Please get involved in our P&C to continue to make our school great.
ACE Students
This year we are focussing on all of our students being ACE students. Our whole staff will continue to work with students around the importance of attendance, building confidence and resilience and also engaging in, and owning, their own learning.
Swimming
Swimming lessons commence this week for students in Year 1-6. Swimming is an assessable part of the curriculum and all students should swim unless they are unwell. Students who do not bring the required equipment for swimming or are unable to swim, will be placed in an alternative class for the lesson duration and parents will be notified.
Thank you to all of the parents who have come forward to volunteer as spotters/helpers at the pool, we appreciate your generous support so our students can swim! If you haven’t yet registered your availability and can help out with swimming, please contact Mr Bloxsom at sblox5@eq.edu.au
Class Information Sessions
Facility Works
Over the last week, some more works have been completed at the school, these include:
- New accessibility ramp for the junior school and associated landscaping
- Operable walls for E and F Block
Regular School Attendance
We have adopted the war cry below, which we will promote with our students to support their regular attendance! We need your help too! Please make sure that your child attends every school day unless they are sick, or there is some other significant reason. We know that regular attendance supports students academic and social development! So 2,4,6,8. Come to school and don’t be late!
Braveheart’s DITTO Keep Safe Adventure Show
This year Wondall Heights SS P&C are proudly sponsoring all of our Prep-Year 1 students to attend the Ditto Keep Safe Adventure Show presented by Bravehearts on Tuesday 28 February. The Ditto Keep Safe Adventure Show teaches children personal safety skills in a live, interactive 40-minute performance starring Bravehearts’ mascot ‘Ditto’. It includes song, dance, and easy-to-remember messages about personal safety. These songs and messages were written by Bravehearts' professional educators and child psychologists and are developmentally appropriate for your child’s age group.
If you would like to learn more about how to talk to your child about personal safety, download Bravehearts’ FREE PERSONAL SAFETY PARENTS AND CARERS GUIDE from the Bravehearts website. Just go to: bravehearts.org.au/personalsafety.
More information will be provided to parents of Prep-Year 1 students closer to the date.
What does PBL look like at Wondall?
- At Wondall we have three school expectations: Safe, Respectful and Responsible.
- We have the mantra: Wondall learners are: Safe, Respectful and Responsible.
- Each fortnight the school has a focus behaviour. The focus behaviour is explicitly taught and positively reinforced.
- Positive reinforcement through verbal feedback, receiving Dougie Dollars and Dougie Stamps.
What are Dougie Rewards?
Behaviour is reinforced when provided with something of value following a desired behaviour. This may be verbal praise, non-verbal acknowledgement, earning of tokens, provision of tangible rewards, or opportunities to perform a task or participate in an activity.
- Dougie rewards are free and frequent reward points.
- Students receive Dougie rewards in the classroom and the playground.
- Dougie Dollars are awarded outside of the classroom. These points go towards a class total and a school total.
- Dougie Stamps are awarded during class time. Students who receive 50 stamps over a five-week period are rewarded. These rewards are agreed on by staff and students.
PBL Focus Weeks 3 and 4 – Resilience – Positive Self-talk
All children experience periods of stress in their lives and require support to build the skills to manage in these situations. Resilience is staying strong and dealing with problems that come up. Positive self-talk is a strategy that helps us to deal with problems by keeping a strong mind.
How we think about things determines how well we are able to manage under pressure. If we think we will survive, we will. If we decide we are strong and flexible, we are. Sometimes, the problem is not the actual problem but the negative self-talk.
Positive self-talk is crucial when dealing with challenging situations or going through tough times. Positive self-talk or helper words give ideas to problem solve and discover the best option moving forward.
What do you say to yourself when things are hard? Talk to your children about your positive self-talk. Let them hear your positive self-talk when things are tough.
Last year, Wondall Heights State School joined the Active School Travel program run by the Brisbane City Council to help students become more active in travelling to school and also to reduce traffic congestion around our school to keep our students and community safe.
We began 2022 with 30% of our students actively travelling to school and ended the year with 44% of the students actively travelling to school. Our Active School Travel Day continues to be FRIDAYS, so walk, ride, car pool or use public transport on this day and we could have a chance to win some cool sports equipment for our school!
This year, we launch our Active School Travel program with a ‘Scavenger Hunt Park’n’Stride’ on Friday 17 February. Please see poster below for details!
We also welcome parents to join our Active School Travel committee which meets at least once a term, so you can have your say on traffic issues affecting our school. Meetings are attended by representatives of the school and Brisbane City Council, as well as our local councillor. In 2022, we successfully petitioned to improve speed signage on Wondall Road. Our first meeting is this Friday (10 February) at 8am in the office.
| EVENT | DATE |
| Assembly - Student Leadership | 13 Feb |
| Bayside District Swimming at Chandler | 16 Feb |
| Prep Vision Screening | 23 and 24 Feb |
| Assembly | 27 Feb |
| Bravehearts DITTO (P-2) | 28 Feb |
| Prep Vision Screening | 01 Mar |
| Clean Up Australia Day - Emu Parade | 03 Mar |
| Prep Minibeasts Incursion | 08 Mar |
| Schools with Pools - MBC | 10 Mar |
| Assembly - AST Performance | 13 Mar |
| P & C Meeting | 14 Mar |
| NAPLAN | 16 Mar to 27 Mar |
| Yr 6 MBEEC Immigration Excursion | 23 Mar |
| Assembly | 27 Mar |
| Parent Teacher Interviews | 28 Mar |
| Inter-house Cross Country | 29 Mar |
Wanted - casual cleaners to contribute to the efficient and effective operation and environment of the school by providing a high level of cleaning support. Applicants must have the capacity to work in a team and support productive working relationships and hold a current paid Working with Children Blue Card.
Employment is subject to criminal history check being completed.
Email expression of interest and resume to bsm@wondallheightsss.eq.edu.au
