Term 3 Week 5 2020

Great Opportunities and a Caring School Environment

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with some students about our school and what they love about Mango Hill SS. The students all had different answers depending on their interests and passions. However the words that came up most frequently were caring people and great opportunities!

Students spoke about how they felt MHSS students and staff showed care for them in many ways. They talked about our wonderful staff who ‘go above and beyond’ to help them be their best. Jason described how we work in teams and joined our ideas together to make them better, respecting different opinions and ideas and showing care to ensure everyone had a turn. Mia spoke about how MHSS was a friendly, kind and caring school where we all help each other.

Many, many children described how they love the opportunities to participate in a range of curricular and extra-curricular activities at our school. Some children love the sports offered and valued the gala days and the chance to represent their school. Others enjoy the arts including music, dance and drama, especially when they get to perform in the band or in concerts or eisteddfods.  Some children were enthusiastic about STEM and Italian and loved the challenge of these subjects. Other students loved the lunch time clubs, electives, camps, swimming, sports days, excursions and other special events. And some little people told me they love maths and going to the hub to chase those million words in AR!

I am not sure what answers I expected from the children, but as I listened to each child, I was so proud to be part of our school community where children can describe such wonderful attributes of feeling cared for and given opportunities to grow, learn and achieve together!

Look at these little faces enjoying their friends – learning, caring and playing together!

Free Dress Friday

During this difficult year, the Student Council are reminding us that we all have a role to play in staying safe together.  On Friday, students are invited to wear free dress and pay a gold coin. Money raised by the student council will go toward another mural in our school, reminding us our community is   #all in this together!

Please remember your children should wear sun safe appropriate clothes to school, including a hat.

Have a wonderful week!
Tracy
tegan4@eq.edu.au

Focus of the Week 

The focus of the week introduced on Friday and continued through this week is Growth Mindset.

Students develop a Growth Mindset by believing their skills and qualities can be improved through dedication and hard work.  

• giving something new a go
• trying new games and activities
• creating a love for learning and accomplishment in different areas of life
• set learning goals that I will need to strive to achieve
• asking questions and for help when needed to extend my understanding
• receiving feedback positively, I can always learn to improve
• taking pride in my work by doing my very best
• being resilient when a task is new or challenging.

Below is a section from our Learning Behaviour Chart displayed in all classrooms at Mango Hill. 

Thank you
Peta 

Student of the Week 

School Banking

Our school banking team is seeking a few volunteers to help on a Tuesday morning from 9:00am. If you have some spare time and would like to help the banking team would really appreciate it. Please email Jasmine Benfer at jbenf10@eq.edu.au to register your interest. 

Achieving our writing Goals 

We’re right in the middle of our writing unit in Prep. We’re persuading others to read a book! We are learning the beginning of persuasive language conventions through the development of a poster. We are working hard to become 4 Star Writers!

One way we can improve our writing is to use feedback. Our teachers help us to look at our writing and see how we can “bump it up”. What elements do I need to include to improve? Where can I go for help?

One place we can go for help is to our Bump It Up Wall. This wall shows the writing scale and has student writing examples. When our teachers model writing to us, they point out all the important elements to include and they show us what they look like. When we can see what we have to learn, it is so helpful!

We also have Bump It Up Walls for Number in Maths. Take a look at some of our Bump It Up Walls. At home, you could ask your child what their next step for writing is!

Have a lovely week
Melinda
mwhit37@eq.edu.au

Collaboration is the key!

We learn better when we work together to share ideas, talk about our learning and use the academic language associated with the subject. Teachers plan collaborative structures for students to apply their learning in pairs, threes or small groups.

Teachers in the early years have been focused on building students' abilities to work collaboratively by setting up routines and procedures for working in a group and building individual accountability. The student to student interaction during the learning builds their academic language and provides scaffolding for their active interactions. This type of learning builds high levels of engagement in the classroom and supports all learners. We are excited about the development in our students’ understanding of their learning!

Have a great week
Gabrielle 
gdoug7@eq.edu.au

Beginning our First Drafts

This week we are heads down and starting our first drafts of our writing assessment in Year 3 and 4. We have been working very hard to Bump Up our writing all term and now we get to show our best. It is very rewarding to see our students self-reflecting and working on their next steps. There has been great progress by many of our students especially this little friend from 3M. He has done an outstanding job this week taking on the role af an author to produce an entertaining next chapter to Kumiko and the Dragon.

Have a wonderful week and happy writing 
Michelle 
malco14@eq.edu.au

Care for Learning in Year 5 and 6 

This week I was invited into 5S to observe the class work on number patterns. Students were given the opportunity to hear Ms Stacey present a think-a-loud activity in which she opened her brain up to the students and modelled how she could determine the type of number pattern being represented. The class then co-constructed a success criteria for the lesson that provided them with a clear understanding of what success would look like in their maths lesson. Students then collaborated with their peers in a MicroLab Thinking Routine. I loved hearing the academic conversations students were having with their peers and the engagement on their faces. Great work 5S!

Electives – Mango Hill Top 100 

The Year 5 and 6 students have now been participating in their Electives for two weeks and it is time to shine the spotlight on a new elective for 2020, Mango Hill Top 100. In this exciting elective students are exposed to the different components of a song including versus, the chorus and the bridge. Students then are writing their own song that contains an important message. Students I spoke to loved the opportunity to think creatively about how they could get what is in their mind out to the world.

Year 6 Graduation

Thank you to all of the families that completed the Year 6 Graduation survey last week. I had responses from a majority of our families from the 176 students and have some great feedback on what the Graduation Committee will consider when planning the event. The Graduation Committee will be meeting this week to take the feedback and make it a reality. All Year 6 families are invited to attend. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday 13 August at 3:30pm in the staffroom. Information will be sent to families the following week.

Have a good week 
Martin
mwinn7@eq.edu.au

Interoception

Interoception is actively noticing and responding to our internal sensory system, from noticing our heart rate, sense of hunger, temperature and muscle tension to sensing anxiety, frustration, excitement etc. We need to notice, process and feel our emotions to understand what our body is wanting. Individuals can self-regulate and self-manage better when they respond helpfully to these body signals.

Some students may need help in developing good interoception. They may not notice interoception signals or may notice them but not interpret them accurately. For example they may not realise they are getting frustrated until the emotion overcomes them.  Some students may not pick up on biofeedback from parts of their body, so their sensory system tries to make up for this by hitting or kicking etc. On the other hand some children are over sensitive and small feelings/ sensations are extremely felt, for example, the feeling of tiredness, pain, or anxiety.

Interoception activities, 2-3 times a day, will activate the mindfulness part of the brain, which helps you to become calm and focus. Over time, these help to develop the level of interoception required to be able to self-regulate and self-manage. They can be muscular activities like doing the ‘plank’ and ‘cat/cow’ yoga poses, breathing activities, pulse, temperature or touch focused activities.

https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au has some great interoception activities with photos and instructions! It’s called the ‘Ready to Learn Interoception Kit’ Use the link below:

https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/resources/practical-tools-information-sheets/interoception

Good connectedness with ourselves helps us have good connectedness with others.

With thanks 
Ellaine and the ILT
ewarn23@eq.edu.au

The value of reading

At Mango Hill State School we value reading and encourage all of our community to engage in wide reading experiences. As part of our English units of work, students from Prep to Year 6 listen, view and read a range of texts including picture books, novels, poems and persuasive arguments and advertisements. As part of other learning areas, students listen, view and read a range of non-fiction texts which provide information and instructions.

As part of homework routines, we encourage all students to read regularly. As you can see from the diagram below, just 20 minutes of reading a day can really add up! Reading with your child also provides a great opportunity to develop shared interests and to spend quality time together. Reading with others is just as valuable as reading independently.

All classes have a scheduled Hub borrowing time each week or fortnight, where students are encouraged to choose their own books – for learning, for Accelerated Reader (AR) or for pleasure.  The Hub is also open every morning from 8.15am and every afternoon until 3pm. Everyone is welcome to pop in and borrow a new book for the week ahead.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Don’t forget that the Premier’s Reading Challenge will end on 28 August. There is still time to complete your Reading Record but you will need to hurry! All completed forms need to be returned to the Hub by the end of August. All completed forms will be submitted to the Premier’s office and all participating students will receive a certificate. We hope that everyone from Mango Hill can participate.

Happy reading 
Suzette
shol0@eq.edu.au

Net Set Go Netball Program (Year 1-4)

Due to the high demand for spots in Term 3 for our NetSetGo program, Netball QLD have agreed to run an additional program in Term 4 at MHSS in 2020. This is a wonderful commitment from Netball QLD to the Mango Hill community.

The NetSetGo program is a fantastic introduction to Netball program and will run on Mondays starting 12 October 3:00pm-4:00pm and will run for 8 weeks.:

Please see the attached Flyer for more information on how to register, or follow the online registration link. Participants can register via the link below: https://netball.resultsvault.com/common/pages/reg/welcome.aspx?id=89835&type=6&prodid=398984&save=0&entityid=77310

Dont forget about our other sporting programs for this term. For our Preps, Year 1 and Year 2 students we have the AFL Sporting Schools Program running. For our Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 students we have the Football Sporting Schools Program running. Please see the information flyers below. If you would like to register your child or children for one of these programs please see the office staff for a registration form. Please note there is limited spots avaliable for each sport and you will need to register your child to participate. 

Thank you 
Nick 
nhill96@eq.edu.au

Donations Please- Father's Day Raffle

The P&C is calling for donations of prizes, gifts, or vouchers for goods or services to be used for prizes in the upcoming Father's Day raffle.  Can you help us spoil our terrific fathers & carers? Please contact the P&C on email - pandc@mangohillss.eq.edu.au if you are able to help. All prizes must be finalised for raffle set up by Friday 14 August.

Please see below P & C meeting minutes from the last meeting held Monday 3 August 2020. 

Thank you
Renee 

Canteen News

We would like to thank all families who supported the Ekka Day Meal Deal it was a great success with a profit of $2460.

I would especially like to thank Chris Serchen who kindly volunteered and scooped all 460 ice creams.

Helping Hands Update