GOONDI STATE SCHOOL 78 Maple Street, Goondi Q 4860

Ph: 07 40 780 444 Student Absence Line: 07 40780466 Email: principal@goondiss.eq.edu.au

Web Address: www.goondiss.eq.edu.au Uniform Shop: www.goondissuniforms.com.au

NEWSLETTER

UPFRONT Dear Parents and Carers, As stated on the World Teachers’ Day Qld web-site, this Friday the 30

th of October, is World

Teachers’ Day. UNESCO's theme for World Teachers' Day is, ‘Teachers: Leading in cri-sis, reimagining the future’. Teachers have an immensely important role in educating and encouraging our young people to become the next generation of leaders, role mod-els and innovators. World Teachers' Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1994, to recognise the role of teachers in society. Each year, this is our chance to thank our amaz-ing teachers for the work that they do each and every day. At Goondi State School, it is well known that we have such a high calibre of teach-ers across all year levels. This is something that we are all proud of. Goondi teachers are always working to support every child in their class to achieve success. They do this every day.

As we approach the half way mark of the term, we are already preparing for assessment tasks, reports and of course celebrating successes. We encourage all of our students to remain focused and continue to enact the Goondi 5 - Be Safe, Participate and Work Hard, Show Respect, Get Organised and Bounce Back. It is not news to anyone involved with a school that the second half of term 4 gets extremely busy. There are assessments, tests, reports, awards, excursions and the list goes on. This year, due to COVID-19, our end of year will look a little different. We will hold our awards ceremo-ny for students in Years P-5 at a special assem-bly during the day. Unfortunately, we are unable to invite guests to the event as we must adhere to the guidelines. Our Year 6 awards will still take place on the evening of the penultimate day of school. We will be running this as a COVIDsafe event and therefore guests will be limited to 2 per student. In order to do this, the event will take place outside and we will require a QR code to be scanned by guests which will be monitored by school staff. Access to the school will be through one designated point. The students will still be able to have their leavers’ dinner at Roscoe's, who also have a COVIDsafe plan. In the event of bad weather, our back up plan will be to hold the ceremony for 1 class at a time. This would be in the hall, before joining the stu-dents together for the dinner. More details about this will be sent home specifically to our Year 6

28th October 2020

parents and carers. We thank you for your under-standing as we work to adhere to the restrictions and guidelines. Regards, Peter Begemann Principal TERM 4 CALENDAR School Events Mon 2

nd Nov – Fri 6

th Nov – Swimming Week 2

New end of Term 4 date - Wednesday Dec 9th

P&C Events Mon 16

th Nov – P&C Meeting

Christmas Raffle - tickets will issue next week Extra-Curricula Events Tues 3

rd Nov - Year 4 Aquarium excursion

Thurs 12th & Fri 13

th Nov – Year 6 ‘Plant Out’ ex-

cursion 2021 STUDENT LEADERS We will shortly begin to engage with the selection process for our 2021 student leaders. Now that the Year 5 Camp has taken place, Year 5 students will be given the chance to nominate for a position on the 2021 Student Council. The camp at Daradgee EEC provided a great op-portunity for our students to display leadership and team skills in a different setting and in a variety of challenging activities. A usual, Year 5 students on a Goondi 5 “C” key level or higher can nominate. This week, I will be speaking to the Year 5 cohort about student leadership and the qualities that leaders need. The students will then be given the chance to nominate. To do this, they will be asked to outline their suitability for a leadership role by writing to a set of criterion. The students will then present these to the Year 5 cohort, teachers, Head of Curriculum, Deputy Prin-cipal and Principal. Once this has taken place Year 5 and school staff will vote via secret ballot for the students who will make up the Student Council. When the voting is completed, votes counted, and eight student coun-cillors selected, the process of selecting the boy and girl school captains will take place. Again, the teachers from Year 5 and the admin-istration team (Principal, Deputy Principal, and Head of Curriculum) will meet to select the boy and girl school captain from the elected student leader group. The two School Captains and six Student Leaders are announced at our awards ceremony later this term. School Captains and Student Leaders are presented with a Certificate of Leadership.

Esme Dustin

Brayden Nikalau

Lillian Kirrily

Azalea Dakota

Aundre Sienna

Tanvir Lyla

Ryley Kolby

Abua Imogen (Italian)

SCHOOL NEWS Continued

50 YEARS OF SERVICE AT GOONDI SS– LORNA LAUDER

Our fantastic school cleaner, Lorna, commenced her permanent cleaning role at Goondi SS on the 31

st October 1970 and she continues to keep our

school clean and tidy today after 50 years of dedi-cation. Lorna has worked in every part of our school dur-ing her cleaning career and has done a truly amazing job. Goondi SS staff and students would like to acknowledge Lorna’s tireless efforts and thank her for her dedication. She is a treasured part of our school and is adored by students and staff who have known her or worked with her over those years. What an amazing achievement. Lorna’s photo has been taken in our Yr 1 garden with the beautiful sunflowers that she loves. While we wish Lorna all the very best on the next, exciting stage of her life, we know that she will always be a part of the school. Lorna is most certainly welcome to come and see us here any-time!

ENROLMENTS FOR 2021 We are currently planning for our classes in 2021. A vital part of this planning process is that we know who will be enrolled at Goondi State School next year. Each year, we ask that if you are leaving the dis-trict, or if your child will be attending a different school next year, please contact the office. This information will be helpful as we begin putting together classes. It will also assist us with the transfer of student records when your child enrols at their new school. It would also be very helpful that if you know of anyone who is intending to enrol their child at Goondi State School in 2021, please ask that they contact the school and complete an expres-sion of interest enrolment form. Our school is enrolment managed. This means that students residing within the school’s catch-ment can be enrolled once proof of residency is provided by the parents or carers. Students outside the school’s catchment area can

still be enrolled provided there are vacancies. These students are placed on a waiting list. At this time, there are still vacancies for enrolment in the 2021 school year.

We look forward to hearing from perspective new families and students.

UNITED NATONS INTERNATIONAL YEAR and ASK a STEM PROGRAM You may notice a sign about this program at the front of the school this week. Goondi State School supports STEM in education and around our local community. One of our community members, Mr Michael Kateifides has been running his ‘Ask a STEM’ program around the area for some time now and works closely with Innisfail State College. This is an opportunity for the public to ask questions about UN-IY and STEM. The United Nation’s 2020 International Year theme is Plant Health which has obvious links to our beauti-ful area and also sits well with Goondi State School’s educational programs.

Our school is also proud to support Mr Kateifides in his work to make 2024 the UN-IY of the banana of which the Cassowary Coast grows over 90% of the Australian supply. Previous years have in-cluded the potato and rice.

P&C MEETING The next general meeting of the P&C will be held on Monday 16

th November in our school library

commencing at 5:30 pm. All parents are welcome to attend.

BEFORE SCHOOL SUPERVISION A reminder that we are unable to provide supervi-sion for students before 8:00am and students should not arrive at school before this time. Su-pervision is provided in the hall for all students from 8:00am. All students arriving to school at this time are to go directly to the hall.

TERM 4 HEAT The temperature has certainly now begun to rise with temps of 31˚- 32˚ forecast this week. Please remind your children about the importance of sun safety, wearing hat/sunscreen and drinking plenty of water to keep hydrated.

SWIMMING This week we have seen our Year 1 and Year 4 students attend swimming lessons each day at the Town Pool. A selected number of Years 5 and Year 6 students will continue to attend over this two week period and Years 2 and 3 will start next Monday.

Please remind students to bring togs, swim shirt, plastic bag, towel and goggles.

Bella Keira

Skye Ryan

Summerpreet Lucas

Zaydyn Shelby (Italian)

Madison Rubey-Rose

Tyleesha Keean

Dinah Graham

William Elliot

CLASSROOM CAPERS

Prep This fortnight in English, we are learning new facts and then writing information reports about Pigs. In Letterland we are learning about the vowel men, Mr E, Mr U and Mr O and exam-ining the vowel sounds ‘ea’, ‘o_e’, ‘ue’ and ‘u_e’. Travel buddies continue to be sent home each night with a new student. We are enjoying sharing and listening to our travel buddy’s adventures each day. In Maths, we are continuing to revise our addition strategies. Ask your child to show you Clever Cat’s trick for adding 3. We are also revising o’clock times and visiting number 19 and 20 in Numberworld. In Science we are examining the way different toys move (push, roll etc) and in Design Technology we are making wrap-ping paper using different painting techniques. Please continue to listen to your child read each night and help them to practise their sight words. Thank you for your ongoing support, Clancy, Amanda and Jeanette, Rose, Deb and Anita

Year 1 In Writing last week we wrote a persuasive text convincing the reader that The Beach is better than the Town Pool. Here is an example from one of our students. In addition, you can play beach cricket at the beach how-ever you can not play it at the pool because the pool doesn't have any sand. ~ Xavier This week we are going to convince our classmates that My toy is the best toy. Our Vegetable Garden has been a huge success and the stu-dents have thoroughly enjoyed getting outside and getting their hands dirty. We hope you have enjoyed tasting the va-riety of vegetables that we have grown. Hayley, Leigh and Fiona

Year 2 Week 4 and we are beginning to make some progress with our persuasive writing. We have worked hard on our introduction and argument paragraphs and are practicing our rhetorical questions this week. In Maths we are continuing to looking at rounding numbers, practicing symmetry and working on our problem solving with tables. In HASS we have been looking at the history of Innisfail and some significant events that have occurred as well as places of significance. In Science we have looked at ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle our waste and the ways our rubbish is affecting the Earth’s natural resources. A reminder that Year 2 will be swimming in Week 5. All our best, Miss Mollenhagen, Mrs Hollywood, Mrs Heard and Mrs Spataro.

Year 2/3 & 3 Another fortnight has passed and our classrooms have been full of students having fun and working so hard. In Writing we continued learning more about Imaginative Re-counts by adding a “complication” to our writing, and this week we will learn more about “resolutions” to solve the com-plication we introduced. The students have been writing some truly imaginative stories! In Maths we are exploring concepts around chance and data, and we’re practising our 12 times tables. How fast can your child say them? We have sent home some letters over the past two weeks about some of the exciting things happening at school. Please return permission slips for swimming and the String Family performance, both in Week 5, with pay-ments to be made online or direct to the classroom teacher. In Technology we are getting closer to the construction of our pinball machines, so please send in any materials that might be useful for this. This is a busy term, so please make sure all children are get-ting plenty of sleep each night! Melanie Worth, Janelle Wirth and Lizette Austin.

Year 4 We are fast approaching the half way mark of Term 4. How time flies when you’re having fun! It has been a busy term so far with many changes to regular routine e.g. Book Week last week, swimming lessons this week and the Cairns Aquarium excursion and Strings Family performance next week. That said, we have already covered a lot and are currently preparing for mid-term testing, in particular our PAT tests, which illustrate how far the students have travelled academi-cally throughout the year. On another note, it is clearly obvious that summer has ar-rived, and it is certainly heating up. Please ensure your child wears sunscreen to school each day, and comes with a wa-ter bottle to keep hydrated. To help cool off, swimming began this week. If you haven't done so already, please ensure your child wears their school uniform each day and packs their togs, towel, thongs, goggles and a spare plastic bag. Stu-dents will be working hard Monday to Thursday practising skills in order to pass their swimming levels and then they will enjoy a day of fun on the slides on Friday as a reward for all of their hard work. Slip, slop, slap! Thanks, Kath, Lisa and Rhonda.

Year 5 Thunderbirds are Go! Term 4 is certainly off and running! Congratulations must be extended to our Year 5 students who conducted themselves extremely well whilst experienc-ing new challenges and flying the Goondi flag during last week’s Tinaroo Camp. It was very rewarding to see all stu-dents step outside their comfort zone, confront their fears and achieve success with support and celebration from their peers. Massive thanks must also be extended to our staff and parent volunteers who made the camp not only achieva-ble, but also very rewarding, enjoyable and special for all. Meanwhile in the classroom, students have been revising their historical imaginative recount writing skills in prepara-tion for this term’s Eureka Stockade writing assessment. In Maths, students have been learning about fractions and decimal patterns, fair and biased data and the perimeter of compound shapes. Science has the students exploring forc-es and gravity and in HASS, students are learning to become more resourceful citizens of our community.

It is getting very hot so a reminder for all students to bring a water bottle to school.

Warm Regards, Marica, Rebecca, Emily & Kerry.

CLASSROOM CAPERS

Italian The Years 5 and 6 Italian classes at Goondi State School are developing their knowledge of the Italian language further by speaking, writing and listening to new words, phrases and sen-tences. Year 5 students are learning how to you use first, second and third-person pronouns with some verbs in sentences and are performing simple, scripted role plays in Italian. Year 6 stu-dents are building on their knowledge of Italian nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in examining an example of school life in Italy. Both year levels are learning songs to enhance their pronunciation, confidence and engagement in the language. The bookwork standard shown in their exercise books is pleas-ing. Feedback and assistance is given to students regularly. Continue encouraging your child to speak Italian with you and discuss what they are learning. Arrivederci (Goodbye) Signora Lazzarini

Save the Date: Day for Daniel Friday 30 October, 2020 Wear red/orange/maroon shirt. NO DONATION REQUIRED www.DanielMorcombe.com.au

Community News Well Women’s Clinic - Innisfail Hospital (This clinic is available to Medicare eligible clients) Mondays 2

nd & 23

rd November 2020

All services are provided by a specially trained Women’s Health Nurse. For appointments please phone 4016 1312 / 4016 1435

Year 6 Welcome to Week 4, In Maths we have been extending our number and algebra concepts of multiplying and dividing decimal fractions. In Measurement and Geometry, we delve into 3 dimensions of objects and their volume plus take on the x and y axis further and call it the Cartesian Plane. In Statistics and Probability, we look at misleading data in graphs, which helps us in our understanding of persuasive texts and could be persuaded by how graphs are presented. In English the focus topics for writing are ‘Should we eat our pets?’ and in Week 5, ‘No shoes at school’ please help your child discuss ideas ‘for’ or ‘against’ the topic. We are well into the Black Snake text and are still trying to decide whether Ned Kelly is a hero, victim or villain based on what is written in the text. Many experiments have been completed in Science including melting, solidifying, dissolving and evaporating, which has been very exciting. Our imaginations are going to go wild in HASS with the start of our business and economics unit of work. Students have a budget of $1 000 000 to design a nature park that includes certain facilities. They work out the costing as well as what the park’s income will be. There was quite a good turn out of costumes for Book Week last Thursday from the cohort of 6’s, with over half coming dressed as a book character. Well done to those making the effort and Congratulations to Leteesia for taking out best cos-tume in Year 6. Rachel Platte, Aaron Harbour and Rhonda Pirini

Music String Family Performances Friday 6 November (Week 5) Goondi State School Hall Cost $3 per student Letters to parents were sent home last week with further details.

Uniform Pool There are times when students have accidents at school and a spare uniform is needed. We are running very low on sizes 12 & 14 and would appreciate donations of old uniforms to our stock. Uniforms can be donated at the school office.

Library News New titles in the Library!