Teaching and Learning

School Improvement Agenda for 2020 will focus on:          

• Australian Curriculum and Moderation processes
• Effective pedagogy to engage students
• Creative and Critical Thinking

Since students have returned to school the focus has been on English, Maths and Science.  Teachers are making the most of every learning opportunity to ensure students have every opportunity to engage with their term 2 learning.

Each year level will have a moderation session with the Leadership Team during week 9 or 10.  Our moderation process aligns curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting.  Each year level moderation provides consistency of delivery of the curriculum and assessment and A-E achievement.

All Teachers will attend a Twilight session in Week 10, the focus will be on Term 3 curriculum, planning and assessment.

A recent staff professional learning session focussed on a webinar called Beautiful Questions. 

• We need to encourage children to ask more questions.
• Teacher questioning is important, but we do need to focus our attention on emphasising and encouraging student questioning.
• Questions are more powerful than we could imagine. Questions lead to innovation.
• Tend to put emphasis on answers, it starts with asking the right question.

I’ve included below 5 questions Parents can ask their children to encourage children to talk about their learning.

Report Cards will be emailed home on Friday 26 June.  Please ensure your email address on our school records is correct.

Curriculum Overviews for Parents are provided each semester. The documents provide detailed information on the curriculum that has been taught throughout the semester. Parents can refer to the overviews when reading the achievement standards on the report cards.

The Curriculum Overviews are also available on the school website.

Student Safety a number of parents have contacted me to raise concerns about student safety around the school with the increase of cars around the school. 

Student safety is our top priority, please be patient when dropping off and collecting your children from school and adhere to road rules.

Neighbours around the school have also raised concerns with parents double parking and parking across driveways whilst waiting to collect children.

If you have any concerns for road safety and parking around the school please contact the Brisbane City Council.

For the safety of our students, please follow the road rules and observe safety procedures around the school.

Playgrounds are out of bonds before and after school every day.  Each afternoon there have been a number of children playing on the Outdoor Learning Area, this area is also out of bounds before and after school.

Parents and Caregivers are invited to participate in this year’s School Opinion Survey and have a say about schooling during the COVID-19 lockdown.  You are also given the opportunity to provide feedback about our school more generally.

Participation in the survey is anonymous and you are encouraged to take this opportunity to have your say.  The survey form has been designed so that it can easily be completed on a computer or smartphone. The online survey will be available until Friday, 17 July 2020, and should take less than five minutes to complete.

To access the survey, please click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser:

Parent survey – https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/form/Parents-HaveYourSay

Please contact the school if you have any questions about the survey.

Have a great week and enjoy the holidays when they arrive.  School will start back on Monday 13 July.

Melissa

Three Levels of Challenge:

1. A bridge that can hold an apple.
2. A bridge that can hold a can of soft drink or a can of soup (or something similar).
3. A bridge that can hold a pair of shoes.

Once you complete the challenge, feel free to email me a picture of yourself with your creation sabbo6@eq.edu.au . Please let me know if you don't want your photo shared with the community through the newsletter or social media.

I’ll add the challenge to Facebook in Week 10. I look forward to seeing what you make during the holidays!

THE POWER OF LANGUAGE

In classrooms, there is a hidden power in the type of language that is used. The power lies in the language’s ability to convey subtle messages that shape the children’s thinking, sense of self and group affinity. The language you choose to use at home can also have the same effect. Ron Ricthhart (2015) identifies seven different types of language which can be used to promote a culture of learning and thinking.

1. THE LANGUAGE OF THINKING – Think how many words mean the same as the word ‘think’. Wonder, analyse, clarify, ponder, justify reason - the list is endless. When we challenge our children to think about the world, be specific and name the type of thinking you would like them to do. Teach them the difference between using the types of thinking.
2. THE LANGUAGE OF COMMUNITY – Using pronouns such as, we, us and our, can communicate a sense of inclusiveness and collaboration in learning. When undertaking tasks and discussions with children, use these pronouns to help children feel like they are part of the thinking and problem solving process.
3. THE LANGUAGE OF IDENTITY – Language can bring children into new worlds and invite then to step into new identities. When gardening, invite your child to think and act as a gardener. When cooking, invite your child to think and act as a chef.
4. THE LANGUAGE OF INITIATIVE – We are trying to encourage our children to be flexible, innovative, independent learners. Instead of rescuing our children with ‘this is how you do it’ statements, encourage problem solving with ‘how could you solve that problem?’, ‘what could be the next step?’ so children feel empowered to think on their own.
5. THE LANGUAGE OF MINDFULNESS – A subtle change in the use of language can lead thinking to become more mindful and flexible. For example, the use of ‘might’ – ‘What is going on in this picture’ compared to ‘What might be going on in this picture?’ The use of ‘might’ opens up a range of possibilities to explore and allows the child to think more critically and creatively.
6. THE LANGUAGE OF PRAISE AND FEEDBACK – Research indicates that praise linked to a person’s efforts is more likely to encourage ongoing learning, risk taking and the embracing of new challenges. Instead of saying ’Good Job!’ would it be better to say ‘I can see you have worked hard and pushed yourself!’
7. THE LANGUAGE OF LISTENING – Listening is one of the most powerful ways we show respect for and an interest in other people’s thinking. Sometimes we have to pause our talk to give the children time and space to air their own thoughts. Seek first to understand, then be understood (Covey).

2021 PREP ENROLMENTS

Prep enrolments are open, please come to the school office to enrol your child.