From the Principal...

Term 3 - Week 3

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Australian Curriculum Focus

At the end of each term teachers are provided a day off class to work with our Head of Curriculum (HOC), Ms Vacher, to prepare the curriculum for the term ahead. This is called a pre-moderation day and is where teachers unpack the expectations of what students should know and what they must do to demonstrate their learning. All classroom teachers participate in these days and our support teachers, Ms Thomas, Mrs Butler and Mrs Bryce also attend part of these days in order to have a clear understanding of the curriculum expectations and adjustments required for the children they support.

Please view the curriculum snapshots for each class using the links below. These snapshots give an overview of what will be covered in each of the subject areas for Term 3.

At Gympie Central State School, formal reporting on student progress to parents and carers occurs four times a year. Written reports are provided at the end of each Semester (Terms 2 and 4) and Parent Teacher interviews are offered late in Term 1 and mid Term 3. This term, the regular parent teacher interviews are offered as phone interviews and will take place over the next 3 weeks. Your child’s teacher will send home a booking sheet with available times.

Writing Enrichment

Ms Vacher has been working with some students from Year 2 to 6 who took part in their first enrichment writing class last week.  Our focus was lifting the quality of vocabulary used in their writing.  These classes will occur once per week for the remainder of the year.  We split our time together between upgrading our skills and focussing on a major project.  Our long term project is to create a book of short stories for our library.  It is wonderful watching their writing evolve and their creative ideas flow.  Be sure to keep an eye out for some upcoming snippets of our students writing in the coming weeks.

School Photos

School photos will take place on Tuesday, 11 August.  Please see the link below for instructions on how to place an order.

Qkr Payments Are Here!!  

Qkr is the new cashless payment method now available at Central which will allow parents to pay for items without coming into the office.  Qkr is a mobile phone app designed for Australian schools. It can now be used to purchase school uniforms and pay for upcoming excursions.  In the near future you will also be able to use it to order and pay for Tuckshop items without having to come to the office or send your child to school with cash. You can find the instructions to download the app on the link below and it will also be emailed separately tomorrow.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week the Prep-Year 3 classes attended Roadcraft lessons here in Gympie. Students learnt about road safety in a practical and safe environment. The Year 4-6 classes have been rescheduled from Term 2 and will attend in early Term 4.  This excursion was made possible with the support of the Kin Kin Masonic Lodge and the Queensland Government Community Road Safety Grant who together, covered all costs associated with the excursion. Thank you to everyone involved for making this possible.

We had to stop at the red and yellow lights. It was like a real road, but they were smaller. - Stella
It was GREAT! – Yuvi
I liked learning about road safety and riding the bikes. - Amity
It was like we were actually on the road. There were road signs like STOP, GIVE WAY and WRONG WAY. I had a great time with my friends riding on bikes and it was really fun. - Kaiden

Sports (Athletics) Day Rescheduled to Friday 7^th August (Staff and Students Only)

We’ll give it one more try! No tuckshop next Friday on Sports Day and it will still be a student and staff only event.

Students are encouraged to wear their house colours on the day (and still must bring their wide brimmed hat).  Sports hats (house colours) are available and these can be purchased from the office or by using the Qkr app.

Year 6 Camp - Noosa North Shore Retreat - Total Adventures (19-21 August)

Year 6 camp is only 3 weeks away. An information session will be hosted here at school at 3:15pm on the afternoon of 10 August. Mr Barnes, Mrs Groves and Ms Bennett will be attending with the students. Due to the facility having to have a COVID Safe plan, guidelines around student health are very tight. Students who present unwell in the 24hrs before camp or during camp will be unable to attend. Further information will be communicated at the information meeting and parents of attendees are encouraged to attend.  Reminder:  Final payment is due by 12 August. 

Year 5 Camp - Barambah Environmental Education Centre (1-3 Sept)

Hear and Say Hearing Screening

Hearing screening is taking place for all prep students, all indigenous students and selected students on Tuesday 18 August. Parents will have already been contacted by Mrs Butler and received consent paperwork. Families are reminded to return these consent forms by Monday 3 August so the school can send these forms to Hear and Say in a timely manner.  Thank you to those who have already returned the form.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

Each year the federal government collects data on students who have adjustments made to support their learning. If parents do not wish for their child to be included in this data collection, please inform the school and the school will remove your student from the collection.

Information on the NCCD is available at https://www.nccd.edu.au/

Have your say! Disability Standards for Education – 2020 Review

The Australian Government has commenced public consultation regarding the Disability Standards for Education.
Students with disability, their families and carers, advocates, educators and the public are invited to provide feedback to inform the 2020 review.
A discussion paper has been developed with guiding questions to help you have your say.

For more information visit the Consultation Hub - click on the link below. Consultations close midnight Friday, 25 September. 

Have a great fortnight!

Warm regards,
Glenn Cafferky