Term 1 Week 7 2023
- Principal's News by Tracy Egan
- Team Mango We All Belong!
- Prep News by Michelle Alcorn
- Year 1 News by Melinda White
- Year 2 News by Kylie Vaughan
- Year 3 News by Ellaine Warner
- Year 4 News by Danielle O'Brien
- Year 5 News by Martin Winney
- Year 6 News by Emma Crawshaw
- Curriculum News
- Sporting News by The PE Department
- News from our Partners
- Community News
Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent Teacher Interviews will be held over a four-week window including the last two weeks of Term 1 and the first two weeks of term 2. Each teacher will choose dates and times depending on when they are ready to share assessment results and other information.
Please book interview times via https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70371
Bookings are currently open and will be up until Friday 17 March at 5pm.
The focus of these interviews is to share how your child is progressing in the key areas of social and emotional wellbeing, English and Maths, and to discuss their learning goals.
If you have any trouble accessing the site, or you don't have an email account, please contact Jasmine Benfer in the office for assistance jbenf10@eq.edu.au
If you are having any trouble with the times offered, please email the class teacher to arrange an alternate time.
Please see below for further instructions.
https://eq.sobs.com.au/docs/sobs-pt3-parents.pdf
P & C AGM and March Meeting
Our P & C AGM will be held at 6.30pm on Monday 13 March in the Wandani Centre. All positions will be declared open. We would love for you to come along and contribute!
School Photos
School photos are fast approaching with all students and classes scheduled for Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March. Envelopes were sent home a few weeks ago.
A reminder that students should wear their formal uniform on the day they are scheduled for photos.
Sibling photos will be available every morning from 7.30am. Parents should ask their children to go to Gigum hall before school for their sibling photo with their envelope (available from the office).
Playgrounds out of bounds before and after school
A gentle reminder to parents that school playgrounds are out of bounds before and after school (except for students supervised by PCYC OSHC). Please assist your child to meet these expectations.
Get Ready for the National Day of Action against Bullying
On Friday 17 March we will have our first whole school parade joining together to stand against bullying. Students are welcome to wear something orange or a organge accessory like a ribbon, socks or hairtie on this day to draw attention to this important issue. More information next week.
Look Out Zone
Our wonderful staff support students with the Look Out Zone pick up process each afternoon at the back and front of the school. A reminder that we all need to cooperate and follow the procedures.
You can assist by:
- displaying your name on the passenger visor.
- doing the ‘loop’ if your child has not arrived.
- following instructions and speaking respectfully to our staff.
- only using this bay to stop and pick up. DO NOT stop in the middle of the carpark or bus lane please.
If we all work together, we can have all students loaded safely and with minimal fuss. Thanks for your assistance.
Have a wonderful week
Tracy Egan
Principal
tegan4@eq.edu.au
Focus of the Week
The Care Class focus delivered on Friday, is ‘Moving around the school’. Below are the routines and expectations that will be discussed during Care Class and will also be revised in the classrooms throughout Week 7.
When I care for others:
- I walk on concrete areas
- I walk quietly and responsibly in two lines or with our buddies /small group (keeping to the left).
When I care for the school environment:
- I use the pathways
- I pick up any rubbish that I walk past and place it in the bin.
When I care for self:
- I keep my hands by my side
- I keep my eyes facing forward (so I don't bump into others or objects)
- I walking on the concrete areas
- I wear my hat
- I walk down the stairs (keeping to the left).
Team Mango - Volunteering at Mango Hill
At Mango Hill State School we are proud of the partnership we have with our parents, carers and community. Part of this partnership is the rich experience our volunteers provide our school. If you would like to volunteer and contribute to our school there are many ways you can. You can volunteer in a classroom to help support learning. You can volunteer through the P&C. You can volunteer by assisting in the canteen. You can volunteer in the Hub to assist with resourcing. The opportunities are endless. The school is holding a series of induction sessions for people interested in volunteering. Prior to volunteering you need to attend one induction session. Thank you to the large group who attended last week’s induction session. Below are the dates and times of upcoming sessions.
- Friday 10 March at 8:45am
- Monday 13 March at 5:30pm
- Monday 20 March at 2pm
Information from Police
Police are aware that parking availability around most suburban schools is an ongoing issue.
Police have the responsibility of enforcing the traffic laws and road rules in Queensland. Your school car parks and access roads are considered ‘Road Related Areas’ and therefore all road rules apply. This includes speed limits, drink/drug driving and parking regulations. The safety of students and school staff is the most important focus.
Young children sometimes forget where they are and can suddenly rush between parked cars and into harm’s way.
They do not always have the same general awareness around traffic and car parks as adults do.
Police have advised they will continue to patrol and take enforcement action where offences are observed.
Police remind drivers they are risking fines and in some cases loss of licence if offences are detected.
Some previous offences detected around schools have included:
Exceed speed limit in a school zone – fines range from $287, and one (1) demerit point to $1,653 and eight (8) demerit points. Remember most school zones reduce speed limits during school start and finish times, on roads adjacent to schools.
Playing with Numbers
This week our Prep friends have been playing with numbers and getting creative in the way they represent numbers in the most efficient ways. It has been so exciting to see Prep B work together on a problem of the week to show, share, justify and explain their mathematical thinking. They have had so much fun sharing their thinking for the class to see and learning from one another as they go.
Please have a look at these wonderful photos,
Fun in the Sun
Play breaks this week have been so much fun! Ms Trivett introduced us to the biggest soccer ball we had ever seen. We started the game by sitting together to learn the rules so we were ready to play safe. Then it was time for us to work together and model the #teammango way. Ms Trivett would throw the ball up high and then our job was to work as a Team to keep the ball up in the air for as long as we could. Lots of laughs in Prep this week. Thank you Ms Trivett for playing with us.
Hats, hats, hats!
Sometimes I feel like a broken record!
There are many Year 1s coming to school without their hat each day. It’s so important for our students to wear their hat - yes it protects their skin now - but also, with our climate, it helps instil those Care for Self behaviours that we need to instil, for life.
The students will say, “oh it doesn’t matter, it’s only for a little while” but it DOES matter… all those little bits of sun exposure add up.
Like anything, consistent habits create success.
Coming to school on time each day is another habit, that creates success. When we say “it’s only a day, take the day off for your birthday”, then we aren’t helping our little ones to see that every day really does count and doing something consistently, even when it’s hard and even when it’s tricky, really matters.
Writing every day and reading every day are other “habits of learning” that lead to success. We’re not capable readers and writers overnight. We have to work hard at it, and stick at it, bit by bit.
You can help your Year 1 to create habits of persistence by checking on them - “do you have your hat? Let’s wear it to school every day so we know we have it!” Reading every night is another habit our students need - and without your support and commitment, they are unlikely to do it alone!
Our little ones especially need your support at this time of the term, when they are tired and when assessments loom. They need your help with consistent home routines and getting enough sleep.
Our Year 1 teachers are very grateful for your support in helping our Year 1s develop those age appropriate skills of persistence and independence!
Have a great week
Melinda White
Deputy Principal- Year 1
mwhit37@eq.edu.au
Counting and Calculating in Year 2
The children in Year 2 have been working hard on their counting and calculating in Maths. Specifically, they are learning to count both forward and backwards to 1000. This can be a tricky task as children learn to count numbers in the hundreds. Something that many children find difficult is to count across a decade. Crossing the decade is understanding that after 9, digits start over with the number zero as a place holder. Our base ten number system means we have ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 to show all numbers. As we count and reach the end of the digits, we cross into another decode or another group of 10.
Children can struggle with this concept and can benefit from lots of counting to strengthen their understanding. Counting in the car is great place to start. Rather than counting all the way to 1000, start at different numbers and have your child count forwards and backwards from there. For example, “Can you start counting from 589?” This is a great example as children need to understand that 589 leads to the next decade being 590 and then if they continue counting they will move to the next hundred being 600.
Calculating is the other skill students in Year 2 are working to develop. They are working hard to explore how different mental computation strategies can be used to solve addition and subtraction problems.
Last week the children in 2C explored how addition and subtraction are related. Look at their great work with the Shake and Drop game.
This week in 2L the children investigated how they can use their number fact strategies to add strings of numbers together.
Have a wonderful week
Learning in Year 3
Our Year 3 students are really caring for learning. Teachers are using a variety of structures to support collaborative learning. In most lessons, your children have the opportunity to learn together with their peers. In 3C, students joined a buddy to share their reasons for agreeing or not agreeing with a statement. After each student’s turn, their buddy responded with “When you spoke I heard …” What a brilliant way for students to articulate their thinking before capturing it in writing and to have peers share thinking to develop and challenge each other. In 3K, students worked in a Fan and Pick structure to answer a tricky Math question, with students rotating through the various roles to answer the question as a team. All members of the team were critical to the team’s success.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN testing starts next Wednesday 15 March with the Writing test, with the Reading test the very next day on Thursday 16 March. Conventions of Language will follow on Tuesday 21 March and Numeracy will be tested on Wednesday 22 March. Catch up tests run across the two weeks. If you have ongoing concerns or questions about NAPLAN, please check in with your child’s class teacher, our Inclusive Learning Teacher, Ms Tanner, or with me.
Playing in Year 3
For the next three weeks, the Year 3 “Women’s Soccer Club” will take over the Soccer Club on the Soccer Field each Wednesday at second break. This will provide approximately half of our students more of a turn at Soccer Club. The great news is that our students who will need to sit out Soccer Club that break can choose such other options as Ball Games Club on the Multi-Purpose Court or … drum roll … Handball Club in the Piazza. Please encourage your child to try out all the play options available at breaks.
Date claimers
At this busy time of the term, please add the special events in this newsletter and your child’s class newsletter to your diaries.
Wonderful week
Ellaine Warner
Deputy Principal- Year 3
ewarn23@eq.edu.au
Fabulous Year 4 Learning
What fabulous writing we have seen in Year 4! It is the time of the term where students are receiving feedback on their writing and working to apply the feedback. It has been great seeing students working with their peers to find celebrations in each other’s work and also identify next steps from the scale.
I loved hearing students in 4H, 4M and 4G this week identifying great examples of figurative language, noun groups with qualifiers and complex sentences in each other’s work! They had big smiles on their faces as they shared with each other about why this made their writing entertaining.
Before School Routines
It is important to remind your children of the before school procedures. We kindly ask that Year 4 students and parents wait in the Middle Years Area or Oval where there is supervision until the 8:30am bell, and not in front of classrooms, on playgrounds or outside the bag racks. Our teachers are all working hard in this time before school, preparing engaging lessons for the day.
Also, if you arrive to collect your child prior to 2:45 pm you may wait in either Piazza or in the middle years area. Please be mindful not to wait directly outside a classroom or in the immediate surrounds of a classroom. This helps everyone care for learning! We appreciate your support in reinforcing these procedures with your children.
Have a wonderful week
Danielle O'Brien
Deputy Principal- Year 4
dxobr0@eq.edu.au
Care for Learning in Year 5
As I visited Year 5 classes this week I found so many great examples of students connecting with one another through the learning activities. So many students were taking the opportunity to deepen their own knowledge of the curriculum by teaching or supporting their peers. Well done to 5P who participated in a Tip, Tip, Teach collaborative structure in which a student talked out their process of working out area and perimeter while their peer provide tips and then taught them if they needed help. Great job 5J for their participation in a Four Corners collaborative structure in which students moved to a corner of a room which corresponded to a different sensory language. Students then discuss and defended the impact of that sensory language on the readers' sensors. Finally it was great to see 5L participate in a Sage and Scribe in which one student talked about how to answer a fractions problem (Sage) while the other student recorded the process (Scribe). Great Care for Learning Year 5!
Martin Winney
Deputy Principal –Year 5
mwinn7@eq.edu.au
Care for Learning in Year 6
It is assessment time for our Year 6 learners and what has been the build up to a lot of great teaching and learning. Congratulations to all of our learners across Year 6.
In Maths our students have been working on showing the concepts and skills they have learned by applying their new knowledge to unfamiliar contexts. We want to make sure that student learning is meaningful. It is exciting to see students using real-world scenarios to consolidate and showcase their learning.
In English, students are still working on their short stories. I have enjoyed watching students give feedback to their peers and apply feedback to bump up their writing to make it even more interesting and engaging. Students have been able to explain why they gave certain feedback to their friends, relating it to their ‘next steps’. The collaborative culture in our classrooms is inspiring. Great work Year 6!
Have a super week
Emma Crawshaw
Acting Deputy Principal – Year 6
ewils209@eq.edu.au
Museum display
This week in the Hub we have a new display highlighting Democracy. As part of their HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) unit, the Year 6 students recently visited Parliament House and they have also been busy acting out some likely scenes as parliamentarians. The display from the museum includes some great visuals and some reminders of our links to the royal family. Pop on down and have a look next time you are near the Hub.
The Hub is open every day from 8.15am and until 3pm every afternoon. Don’t forget to bring your library bag when you borrow a book so we can all take care of our precious books.
Have a fantastic week
Suzette Holm, Jessica Rivett
shol0@eq.edu.au
MHSS Cross Country
All students from Years Prep to 6 will be competing in the 2023 MHSS Cross Country Race. This is completed in the morning and or middle session of school with students competing in a long-distance race with their age group peers. More information regarding the Cross Country will be available later in the term. Dates are as follows.
- Year Prep-2: Thursday Week 9 - 23 March
- Year 3-6: Friday Week 9 – 24 March
Please see below the map and community notice for the 2023 cross country events.
Pine Rivers District Sporting Trials (10-12yr Old’s)
Pine Rivers District School Sport offers 10-12 Year old students the opportunity to try and make the Pine Rivers District team for a variety of sports. If successful, they compete at Metropolitan North trials and carnivals, with the possibility of selection into teams competing at State events. Students must be nominated by their school in order to attend a district trial or carnival.
District trials are held at various venues within the Pine Rivers District (e.g. Les Hughes Sports Complex) and are not attended by MHSS staff. A Pine Rivers District Coach and Manager will facilitate the trial.
Students who express an interest to trial can collect forms from our PE office. They will be given the Pine Rivers District forms and the relevant trial information. Completed district forms are to be returned to the PE office by the due date. Once the forms are collated, students will be nominated for the trial. Forms are then handed back to students and must then be taken to the coach/manager at the District Trials. Students will NOT be allowed to trial if district forms are not handed in completed. Unless specifically organised by the school, it is the parents’ responsibility to transport students to and from district trials.
Most Pine Rivers District trials are limited to students turning 11 or 12 years of age and who are considered at a high level in the sport e.g. Div. 1 or A Grade. Cross Country, Athletics and Swimming trials however are open for students turning 10, 11 and 12 years of age. Sports that students are able to trial for include;
- AFL
- Basketball
- Cricket
- Football (Soccer)
- Golf
- Hockey
- Netball
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Softball
- Squash
- Tennis
- Touch
- Triathlon
Mango Hill can normally nominate up to three students for each district sport trial. If more than three students wish to be nominated Mango Hill will select the three best candidates for the trial. The selection of these students may be either based on past performances/current club form or through a selection trial at school.
If you are interested in your child trialling for Pine Rivers District more information can be obtained from the Mango Hill State School newsletter, with regular trial updates listed. You can also contact Mr Nick Hills - nhill96@eq.edu.au (MHSS PE Teacher) so he is aware of your intention to attend the trial.
Interschool Sport (Year 5-6)
All Year 5 and 6 students will get the chance to participate in the Pine Rivers Interschool Sport in 2023, with the competition running for 3 days in Term 2. Students compete against teams from other schools for Interschool Sport. They will vote for which sport they would like to play and can train at school during our lunch clubs. The Interschool Sports for 2023 are;
- Netball
- League Tag (Boys)
- League Tag (Girls)
- Soccer
- Rugby League (Tackle - full contact)
Students will receive a permission and voting form in the coming weeks. This needs to be completed and returned for students to participate. Students who do not wish to participate in Interschool Sport will stay at school and complete normal school activities.
Mr Hills & Mr Newell, Miss Richards and Mr Lisha
Physical Education Teachers
As advised at the end of last year we have moved away from flexischool and we are now using QKR.
Please make sure to download the QKR app and update your child's classes.
Please be advised QKR has a cut off time of 8.00AM.
As we have grown in size as a school so have the canteen orders and we only have a limited time to cook and prepare.
We no longer have the capacity to take orders over the phone or at the counter.
If you miss the cut off you will need to arrange an alternative meal option for your child.
Gluten Free
A few parents have commented on how there are not many gluten free options.
We have in the past had a range of gf options and they were ordered very sporadically. This led them to be removed and only GF nuggets remained.
We have taken feedback on board and we have added GF Butter Chicken and GF Mac n Cheese back to the menu.
This will be trialled till the end of term to see hpopular they are.
Pantry Drive
We would still love some donations to Pantry Drive, these items are used in our day to day running.
We would love donations of the following.
Butter/Margarine
Vegemite
Jam (any flavour)
Dried Pasta and rice
Cream cheese
Sour cream
Cheese slices
Grated cheese
Jatz crackers
Plain / self raising flour
cooking chocolate
Have a great week
Mango Munchies
PCYC Update
Safety is a priority at PCYC. All children were involved in an evacuation rehearsal last Thursday. All children followed instructions and were able to understand the importance of our rehearsals.
P & C News
Easter Donations
