Clare State School The Messenger - Our Focus - 'The Big Three for 2020'

Clare State School
                             The Messenger
                           Our Focus – ‘The Big Three for 2020’:
    1. WRITING - Develop a way of teaching writing across all curriculum
       areas so that all staff are teaching writing the same way.
    2. DATA - Collect student data for Mathematics, Writing and Reading to
       correlate with our Level of Achievement data and NAPLAN and to
       form student learning goals.
    3. Enrolments - Increase Enrolments to 21 students
Achieved                  Partially or Nearly Achieved              Yet to be Commenced/Not achieved
 We will know that we have achieved this when:
 Writing, Spelling and Handwriting Scope and Sequences developed and in use.
 Writing Revolution ideas shared with staff and these ideas are included in unit and daily
 planning.
 All student data is recorded in OneSchool and is used in fortnightly Case Management Meetings
 which involve goal setting, monitoring and reviewing phases.
 All teaching staff and students can articulate their students’ learning goals.
 Learning goals are aligned to student data and are shared with families.
 90% of students achieving C or better in English, Maths, Science and HASS. 45% of students
 achieving A-B in English, Maths, Science and HASS.
 100% students to achieve above National Minimum Standard and 45% to achieve upper 2 bands
 for NAPLAN.
 School Opinion Survey – Staff, parents and students 100% agree with curriculum demands and
 curriculum being taught.
 All unit, daily and lesson plans to include evidence of the Maker Model being used for
 differentiation.
 Practices for mentoring, observation, feedback and moderation are formalised and occur at least
 twice per term.
 All staff undertake professional development in accordance with their Professional Development
 Plan, which is centred around the School’s Explicit Improvement Agenda.
 21 students enrolled.
 Childcare service (after School Care) set up in Clare.
 All families with prep children in 2021 enrolled at Clare SS.
 8 or more families accessing playgroup.
Important Dates

 18/3 – Playgroup and             20/3 – National Day of Action Against   24/3 – Playgroup
 Millaroo and Airville SS Visit   Bullying and Violence
 26/3 – Epilepsy Awareness        27/3 – Small Schools’ Cross Country     28/3 – Local Election
 Day
 1/4 – Playgroup                  2/4 – Parent Teacher Interviews         3/4 – Last Day of Term

Thursday 12 March

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Here at Clare State School we are committed to developing the ‘whole child’. Whilst academic
performance is important, it is equally important to develop our students’ self-confidence, self-esteem,
social skills, sense of belonging, resilience, fine and gross motor skills, acceptance of others and many
other facets to ensure that they are well equipped to handle all that life sends their way. We employ a
number of strategies to develop these elements in all of our students including targeted lessons to
develop certain skills, incidental teaching, consistently reflecting on our school rules, involving all staff
and students in celebrations of student achievement and encouraging all students to treat themselves
and others safely, respectfully and responsibly.

Recently, we have noticed that a number of students exhibiting lower levels of resilience and self-esteem.
Through this reflection we have refined some existing strategies and introduced some new initiatives to
develop the ‘whole child’ for all of our students. Firstly, we will be conducting small group sessions to
explicitly teach resilience strategies and improve the perception that students have of themselves. These
sessions will occur fortnightly and will be supported by the expertise of our guidance officer, Mrs Janine
Magnusson. Secondly, we are trialing a new initiative called Positivity Slips. On these little slips of paper,
students and staff can write a short positive message to another student and place it anonymously in a
box in the classroom. They will be sent home with the students every Thursday for them to read in their
own time and see how they have made a positive impact on our school community. We will trial this
initiative for the remainder of this term. The students have responded well so far to these slips.

Finally, we will also be participating in the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence on Friday
20 March. On this day, students and staff are encouraged to wear orange and the students will be
participating in lessons that will help them identify the causes and effects of bullying and violence, equip
them with exit strategies and ensure that all students know how to report bullying and violence. Students
will also be encouraged to create a poster that delivers their personal message about bullying and
violence.

Sincerely,

Troy Patti

Principal

In the Classroom

Over the past two weeks, students in all year
levels have been enjoying learning in a number
of subject areas, particularly Science. Our
students in Prep – Year 2 have been busy
investigating the properties of various materials
and how to join them together. Their end goal
is to make a puppet with moving parts. The
students particularly enjoyed the water
resistance test, where they had to test the
effects of wetting these materials. They also had smiles on their faces after testing the properties of a
chocolate wrapper, however, this may have had something to do with the fact that they got to eat the
chocolate after they conducted the test!

Our year 3-6 students have been investigating the Solar System. It has been great to hear the many
questions that students have posed during their lessons to find out about the relationships between the
Earth, Moon and Sun as well as the makeup of the planets in the Solar System. Last week, we created a
scale model of the Solar System where the Sun was the size of a basketball and Neptune was nearly 100
metres away from the sun. In the coming weeks, students will complete a research task on two planets
of their choice to find out many interesting facts about these planets. It is great the see the high levels
of engagement in these lessons.

In mathematics, along with our unit work, we have included something called WIN (What I Need) Time.
During this time, students are completing tasks that have been individually tailored to their needs as
outlined in their Maths Learning Goals. This has been well received by the students and it has been
good to see their learning and improvement in their area of need.

In English, all students are about to commence their first assessment task where they have had to
analyse a character in a book that they have read in class. Analytical writing is a difficult task and some
students in our older year levels have experienced difficulties. To assist them, we have co-constructed a
number sample texts and have given the students opportunities to write their own analyses on various
parts of the text. Their next task will be to write a short story or new chapter (depending on which year
level). This will be of particular assistance to those students in year 3 or 5 as the
NAPLAN testing may include a narrative writing task. Our Prep-Year 2
students will also have to recount a narrative.

Playgroup

It is great to see our Playgroup being well supported by local families.
There is always room for more!

Millaroo and Airvile State Schools’ Visit

Next Wednesday, we will be joined by the students from Millaroo and
Airville State Schools for a day of learning and fun. The students are really
looking forward to seeing their friends from these two schools again. The activities that students will
participate in on the day will give plenty of opportunity to forster friendships and will be centred around
what our students are currently learning in English, Mathemmatics and HPE.

Burdekin Small Schools’ Cross Country

The Burdekin Small Schools’ Cross Country will be held at Gumlu State School again this year. Please
ensure that you have completed and returned your permission forms.

NAPLAN Online

Over the past two weeks, all students in years 2-6 have been engaged in weekly computer lessons
where they have familiarised themselves with the NAPLAN Public Demonstration Site
(https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site). Here, students have
answered NAPLAN-style questions and familiarised themselves with the testing platform. These lessons
will continue until NAPLAN testing starts in May. Students in year 3 and 5 will also participate in the
Coordinated Practice Test (CPT) on Monday 23 March at 11am. This will give students the
opportunity to complete a NAPLAN test in the live online environment. If you have any questions
regarding NAPLAN Online, please make a time to come and speak with us.

Epilepsy Awareness Day

On Thursday 26 March, all students, staff and community members are encouraged to wear something
purple and make a gold coin donation at the school, which will be passed on to Epilepsy Australia.
Please support his very worthwhile cause.