Weir State School Newsletter

Welcome to this edition – A month of term 4 has flown by and it is hard to believe we are nearing mid-term in readiness for the ‘run’ to the end of the year. I have to ‘pinch’ myself sometimes at how our school has progressed throughout the year. One of the most pivotal reasons being the very positive and continued change in the student’s enthusiasm toward their learning. I cannot praise our students enough for modelling our high expectations with behaviour and meeting their personal academic goals. Thanks to all parents and carers for your support of our school direction and values. I am positive our year will end well and I’m excited about the big things planned for our school in 2020……. Well done Weir!

Year 6 Senior Camp – Last week the majority of our Year 6 students ventured north to the Daradgee Environmental Education Centre to experience 4 days of engaging, teambuilding activities. The camp was fantastic and the students returned with plenty of great stories and strong friendships. A HUGE thanks must go to our Year 6 teachers, Mrs Brown and our Chappy for helping make the camp one to remember. Congratulations to our senior camp crew!

School Opinion Survey – the results have come through with our School Opinion Survey and the areas of behaviour and reculturing in our school have certainly proven to be well received by the school community with a dramatic increase in student, parent and staff satisfaction across the board. In some areas we have outstripped the state and region by considerable margins, a clear message that our community is working well together to bring a positive change to our school and most importantly to the kids…..congratulations Weir State School……showing we are ……STRONG……..SMART …….CONNECTED

School Works – Over the next month or so I will be working with facilities in town to begin works on a half million-dollar refurbishment of our current Year 5 block. There is a chance our Year 5 kids may have to move class before years end so contingencies will be put in place to help progress these works before the beginning of the 2020 school year.

After School Student Safety – Last Thursday afternoon a student of Weir State School was seriously hurt at the Willows lights after being struck by a car.  We all understand accidents happen, however we can all play a part in reducing accidents by encouraging our children to wear the correct protective clothing when riding a bike, use the lights and crossings correctly and be ‘road smart’ by continually checking for cars, obeying signals and taking the time to be aware of their surroundings before moving ….please remember to coach your kids toward their safety.   

Student Services – Although Weir State School offers support services for students, our allocated resources are always stretched. We have many students with complex needs and unfortunately limited resources. We have a large caseload and unfortunately it can take time for some students to be seen. Tests for eyes, ears and learning delay will always be quicker if sourced privately and this info shared with the school to develop tailored learning for our students.

School Zones – Unfortunately we have had an alarming amount of cars speeding in school zones. Please remember that Ross River Road is zoned at 40 KPH between 8am - 9am and 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm on weekdays. Any faster is breaking the law and more importantly it puts students and families in danger.

Physical Fitness - At Weir State School we value the promotion of an active lifestyle. All students are encouraged to participate in activities that get the heart racing as well as getting the body moving. Recent research has outlined that children are becoming less likely to be active, and together with an inappropriate diet, this can lead to weight issues, as well as a decrease in self-esteem and confidence. As teachers, we are aware of the importance of promoting both a healthy diet as well as an active lifestyle within our curriculum.

Our Physical Education program encourages students to participate in active sessions, working at their own level. Students are taught skills such as throwing, catching, kicking and are then provided with opportunities to practice and consolidate these. Skill sessions are balanced with games that promote the fun of being involved, as well as giving students a chance to put their new skills into practice. As students get older, the skills are linked to major games such as netball and cricket. Students then have the opportunity to participate in sport sessions where aspects such as team play and good sporting behaviour are promoted and enhanced.

At Weir State School we value the fact that all students are different. Not all of us will become elite sportspeople and be able to demonstrate flawless skills. Our curriculum focuses upon the ‘having a go’ nature of active living, as well as setting your own personal goals to achieve.

As parents, it is important that you encourage your child to always participate in school events. By supporting their efforts and celebrating their own personal improvements or goals, you are assisting them to seek out an active lifestyle where they can succeed at their own level.

This week’s proverb – “ BELIEF WILL MOVE MOUNTAINS ”

Thanks for reading and “GO THE FIRE !”

Mr B  - Acting Principal

Prep 2020 Transition Program… We continued our Prep Transition Program this week, welcoming back our C&K crew for another round of lessons with Mrs Francis, Mrs Wilson and Mrs Paton. We also welcomed along our little friends from the Good Start Riverside Early Learning Centre for some fun. All the children had a great time, with one highlight being that they got to meet Poss, our friendly mascot. Thanks to all the staff involved in making these days successful.

This week we have our Prep Open Afternoon, where parents can come in and meet the 2020 Prep teachers and receive some information around what Prep will look like for their child. The afternoon will take place at 3:00pm – 3:45pm in the lower level of our Prep Building in one of our awesome Prep rooms.

Next week we will welcome children and their families from surrounding Early Learning Centres for a transition day. This day is also open to any children and their families who may not attend an Early Learning Centre. We simply want to provide any potential 2020 Prep students with an experience of what BIG school might be like for them.

Prep Interviews will be finalised this week, with our wonderful office ladies calling parents to arrange dates and times in Week 8. Our Prep interviews will be conducted by our 2020 Prep teachers, to begin CONNECTING with our young families. Please remember to contact our office if you have a child that is due to start Prep in 2020 and enquire about a Prep Interview.

Rule of the Week…

This week’s focus is centred around play and developing respectful relationships with peers when playing games…

BE RESPECTFUL

‘Show Good Sportsmanship’

Students are taken through a weekly PBL lesson by their teachers that gives them opportunities to learn about showing Positive Behaviour. This week students will learn about Sportsmanship… what it looks and sounds like. This learning can then be taken out into the playground or even used within class games to give students the best experience when engaging in fun and games with their peers.

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Winning and Losing…Playing games with others helps children to learn about rules, fair play, right and wrong. There is often a lot of talk between children about what is fair. ‘Fair’ is about children learning that in games you can’t just do what you feel like, when you feel like it, as this is not likely to help you do well, or be liked by others, or win.

During the primary school years children do a lot of learning about the difference between right and wrong. Part of this learning takes place during their games. They make up rules and they learn about winning and losing and being fair.

Games help with learning about self-control and getting on with others, and also offer a way to safely get rid of ‘angry’ feelings and use up lots of energy. Learning to lose is a hard lesson and takes much longer than learning to win! Some children need extra support as they learn to manage their feelings in games and show Good Sportsmanship.

If your child is often cheating or acting as a ‘bad loser’ talk to them and let them know that you noticed their inappropriate response, then try to find out what led to this happening. Talk about ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and why it is important to play fairly. Remember that this is often something children stop doing as they gain more confidence, and it need not be something to worry about too much.

Tips to help your child learn about winning and losing:

• Practise playing, winning and losing.

• Play games of chance such as ‘snakes and ladders’ where you can assist your child to understand that despite your best efforts, ‘luck’ can decide whether you win or lose.

• Gradually move onto games of skill, making sure that your child still has a good share of winning.

• Provide times for your child to play games that are for one person only, such as computer games or card games like patience. These games help them to learn to improve their skills when there is no-one to compete against.

• Children need lots of time to play at making up their own games with rules.

• If your child wants to play a particular game, learn some of the skills together. Practise in the backyard or in the park. Remember that too much practise at losing will not teach children to be good sports.

• Think about how your actions and what you say, affect your child. Show your child how to be a ‘good sport’ by the way you cope with losing yourself, and by what you say to them if they lose. If they think winning matters too much to you, they will find it harder to lose.

"I learned as a youngster, a long time ago, that if you can look in the mirror and know you've given it your best shot, you're a winner." - Michael Jordan

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Mr Coey’s Joke of the Week…

Q: What did the buffalo say to his son when he dropped him off at school?

A: Bison!

 Our school target for attendance is 92%.

Students with attendance levels below 85%  have been placed on a 5 week attendance improvement plan.

In the coming week’s teachers will be nominating students for Bronze, Silver and Gold awards with reward activities to be held in Week 10.

This term, teachers are also asked to nominate students for Platinum awards.

Students nominated  for Platinum must have been awarded Gold in Terms 2, 3 and 4 and standout as positive role models within our school.

This year, the final platinum recipients will be selected from those nominated, by a panel of Administration and teaching staff.

Platinum student will attend the Gold reward activity plus an additional Platinum reward event.

The students worked with hundreds of other Strings Students from around our district.  With the assistance of the very talented Strings teachers they learned new songs which they then performed at the amazing finale concert which was attended by their families.

Well done to our very own Ms Mulligan and to our dedicated students!