Term 3 Week 4 2023

A Fantastic Week of Learning 

We have had another fantastic week of learning and fun at Mango Hill State School. We truly have an amazing team of students, staff and parents/caregivers.

This week we have hosted the Berry Street Training for a cluster of schools. We continued to train a large number of staff members from Mango Hill State School. This training assists staff and the school through a greater understanding of student regulation and engagement. The sessions are very practical and provide staff with lots of useful strategies.

This week we will have a number of students participating in music workshops, as part of the instrumental music program across North Coast Region. These activities are organised across cluster areas to allow students access to specialist tuition and a large ensemble experience. The purpose of the workshops is to provide extension programs for music students, to provide large ensemble experience according to student level, to provide access for students to expert tuition from guest conductors and tutors, and to link state primary and secondary schools. I trust that all students will have a great time developing their skills with fellow musicians.

This week our Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in Starlab education. This incursion involves using an igloo shaped dome used to guide our students through a range of day and night sky demonstrations discovering planets, the moon, stars and constellations. I know the students will have fun whilst learning through Science. 

On Saturday 29 July the Junior and Senior dance eisteddfod teams competed at the Australian Pinnacle Dance Challenge at Noosa.

Congratulations to all of our students who were awarded the following.

• Junior Jazz 1^st place
• Senior Jazz 1^st place
• Senior Contemporary 1^st place
• Adjudicators Award for Overall Primary Troup.

Our teams displayed amazing commitment, team work and Team Mango behaviours throughout the morning. A big thank you to Mrs Kostoglou and Miss Sheehan for giving up their time on the weekend and for their expert dance coaching. Thank you to our parents and carers for taking the time out of their weekend to make this happen.

Congratulations to our Year 5 boys soccer team who competed at the South East Queensland Football (soccer) Championships on Monday 31 July. Mango Hill students represented the Pine Rivers District at the Met North section of the South East Queensland Football Championships. This day brings the best schools from the Met North region together and Mango Hill played very well in a strong competition.

Mango Hill played Albany Hill losing 4-0 but bounced back with a win against Newmarket 3-0. Well done to all the students for a great effort and thank you to Mr Newell for his dedication to the team and his great coaching skills.

Our Years 4, 5 and 6 Wakakirri students are busy rehearsing for the Wakakirri dance festival. Having never been involved in Wakakirri before, I’ve heard great things about what to expect. Thank you to Mrs Kostoglou and Miss Sheehan and our students for giving up their time to rehearse. I’m excited to see the end product. 

Year 1 Land

Term 3 can be tricky for our young friends as learning builds, expectations rise that little bit more, and the fatigue from the previous two terms starts to compound.

We’ve been working hard to help our Year 1 friends recognise their feelings and emotions and to respond appropriately. We start each day with a morning meeting, where the focus is on our values and connecting with each other so we can set ourselves up for a great day. We also have Ready to Learn breaks peppered throughout each session, to give our brains the chance to rest and reset, ready to learn the next thing.

You can support your Year 1 child by helping to ensure they have everything they need each day, to be successful.

* When they arrive without a hat, their play options are limited - they have to be under cover.

* No water bottle? This means every time they feel like a drink they have to leave their class and learning space and go to the taps.

* Wrong shoes? Wrong socks? Our little ones notice when their uniform is not like the others.

* iPad not charged? This means they may not be able to use their iPad for learning activities.

* Library book and bag not with them for library day? All the other students borrow, and they aren’t able to.

These things might seem small, but to a six year old, they are a Big Deal. It becomes an Even Bigger Deal when the same child has no hat, water bottle, library bag etc. Our little ones care about these things - but can’t make them “go” just yet, without the grown ups in their lives helping them.

A visual chart on your fridge can help to organise households in that busy morning time. Packing the school bag the night before helps too. Rewards for getting dressed in full uniform with bag packed, can encourage your Year 1 to get motivated in the mornings. Find a system that works for your household and that can slowly build that sense of responsibility in your child over time.

Have a lovely week.

Have a great week 
Melinda White
Deputy Principal- Year 1
mwhit37@eq.edu.au

Exploring Word Choices in Year 2

This term the students in Year 2 will explore how authors use words to influence the mood of the reader.  Specifically, they will read a range of texts to learn about how noun groups are used to describe places in interesting and engaging ways.  They will also write their own description of their favourite place describing what they can see, hear and do to match an overall mood or feeling.  

Learning about how authors construct texts is an important part of being a reader and a writer. We want our students to be able to see how authors want us to think about a particular place, and also be able to use language, including noun groups, to persuade others to see things in particular ways.

The students in 2L decided to write a description of a spooky house evoking a mood of being terrified.  This is the text they co-constructed together.

The place I dread going the most is the scary haunted house at the end of my street.  It makes me feel scared when I am there.

As I shakily stumble through the gates, I notice many broken windows with sharp, pointy edges.  Quickly looking around I spot hundreds of frightening, black bats with large fangs.  Shaking like a leaf, I cover my eyes with my hands.  Reluctantly peeking through my fingers, I catch a glimpse of a spooky ghost floating towards me.

Haven’t they done a wonderful job choosing noun groups to make the reader feel scared? Some of my favourites are ‘many broken windows with sharp, pointy edges’ and ‘hundreds of frightening, black bats’.

We can’t wait to read the children’s individual descriptions later in the term!

Have a wonderful week
Kylie Vaughan
Deputy Principal- Year 2
kvaug3@eq.edu.au