Term 3 Week 9 2020

Over the past two weeks we have had the pleasure of hosting visits from a number of school leaders from Mango Hill State Secondary College. Our aim is to develop some common ways of working as our children move from primary school to secondary school down the road. The principal Mr Rogers and his Deputy Principals and Heads of Department have observed our staff collaboration and moderation sessions and visited classrooms in Year 5 and 6 to see what high quality teaching and learning looks like. In turn, we will have the opportunity to visit them at later date. We value this partnership and look forward to working collaboratively to provide a high quality education for students in Mango Hill from Prep to Year 12.

Please see the photos below that reflect opportunity. 

Excellence at Mango Hill SS

Recently I attended the opening of Mango Hill SSC and whilst there, I had the opportunity to discuss our school with the Education Minister Ms Grace Grace. Ms Grace reminded me how delighted she was that the MHSS children spoke Italian to her when she visited our school in 2018. I was so proud that she remembered our wonderful students and shared with her our recent success (outlined in last week’s newsletter) at the Italian Language Centre Italian Speaking Competition. She asked me to pass on her congratulations to the students involved. Well done Team Italiano!

Changed Parking Conditions

As you are aware, we continue to work in close partnership with MBRC and TMR to ensure our students can travel to and from school safely. The council have informed us that they will be adding parking restrictions to the back of the school during the school holidays. This will greatly add to the safety for students and residents in the area. Please be aware of these changed conditions when your children return to school in Term 4.

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

Focus of the Week 

The focus of the week introduced this Friday is ‘Setting Goals’. It is hard to achieve something if we don’t have an intention. Teachers will work through with students that the best goals need to be Specific – Measurable –Attainable/Achievable – Realistic and Time bound.  It is important to think about the below questions when setting goals.

What will you do to achieve the outcome?

Who might be able to help you?

Where will this occur?

At Mango Hill we believe goal setting is valuable in all aspects of life. You may like to talk to your child about their current goals. 

Start Smart

This week our MHSS students continued their financial literacy lessons being provided by the Start Smart program. The sessions will continue over the next three weeks so that each Prep to Year 6 class has an opportunity to engage with the program. It is never too early to teach children the value of money. These educators are highly engaging and really help the students in an age appropriate way to think about money.

Ask your child/ren about what they have learned in their Start Smart session. The program also provides the class teachers with resources to continue the learning.

Italian News

Year Two Italian classes were treated to a Gelato Experience Day and we thank the P & C for their generous support for our Italian cultural experience!

On Wednesday, 2 September 2020, Year 2 Italian Classes engaged in an authentic Italian communication experience!  Students used their Italian communication skills to order gelato from an Italian Gelato Cart.  The visiting Gelato Cart was from Gelateria Cremona and consisted of an authentic Italian Gelato Cart with artisan gelato, and two native Italian speakers. Supervised and led by our two Italian teachers: Signora Connie Lammertsma and Signora Shona McEvoy, with Signora Raffaella’s assistance, this experience formed part of our Year 2 assessment for Italian.

Each student greeted the gelataio, Signor Gerardo, in Italian and used respectful Italian language to order their gelato flavour in a cup or cone.

The gelataio, Signor Gerardo, commented on the high standard of Italian and respectful behaviour the students displayed.

Many students independently approached Signor Gerardo and thanked him in Italian for the experience.

Il gelato e` delizioso! Grazie!

Prep Poets 

This week we have focused heavily on rhyming words, so students can begin to build an understanding of poetry. Rhyming is fun! To create two words that rhyme, you need to change the beginning sounds.

Many classes have created funny poems this week around the animal “snake”.

The Preps are enjoying creating these small poems.

 “Here is a snake

In a lake

With a rake

Eating chocolate cake”

Learning how to rhyme is an important early literacy skill. Being able to rhyme can help when we decode in reading and in spelling. I might know the word ‘bake’ but not ‘take’ but to decode, I can use my knowledge of the word ending and just change the beginning sound.

At home, creating silly rhymes as a family is a fun way to explore the English language!

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

Speaking and Listening is an Important Part of our English Curriculum!

We are now working on our second English unit of work for Term 3, which develops the students’ speaking and listening skills.

In Year 1, the students are having fun learning to work in small groups to speak about the characters in the Willy books such as ‘Willy the Whimp’. As they participate in group discussions, the Year 1’s are practising how to take turns to talk, express their ideas about the character traits, how these characters are like humans and also listen to their team mates to respond.

The second unit for English this term for the Year 2 students involves them planning and writing a procedure. Students are using their devices to create an eBook multimodal presentation of a procedure to help an imaginary character pack for a holiday to visit ‘where the forest meets the sea’ and to share with others. During this sharing of their eBooks, the Year 2 students will also provide provide specific feedback to their friends about what they were thinking and how they responded to their procedure. Once again, during the interaction between the students - the speaking, the listening and the providing feedback, the students’ skills are developed through this task.

Behaviour Celebration in Week 10

On Wednesday (Year 2) and Thursday (Year 1) next week early year’s students will participate in the behaviour celebration for the term. The Class Teachers will provide some fun activities on these afternoons for the children to choose. Gold and Silver students will receive a certificate for the term and the Gold students, an ice block. Students who received Bronze this term will participate with our Student Engagement Teacher in some skill building play and then join the rest of the students. 

It has been wonderful seeing the students really develop their understanding of the Four Cares and how they can show and use these Cares in our learning community.

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

Year 3 Published Their Final Drafts!

As for our Year 3’s, what a celebration. They have spent the past week publishing their final drafts of their Kumiko writing. It was such a celebration to visit 3B this week and see how far our students had come. They worked really hard at applying the feedback from their peers and Ms Black to conquer their learning goals. What an achievement, love that growth mindset!

Take a look at this wonderful final draft!

Have a great week
Michelle 
malco14@eq.edu.au

This week I had the pleasure of working in 5V as they collaborated with each other on their latest maths goal. It was great seeing students engage with one another as they tried to solve the “Two truths and a lie” question. This activity allowed students to talk and debate their mathematical thinking. Research indicates that the person in the class doing the talking is the person doing the learning. By continually providing space for students to discuss topics, 5V have ensured they are a class full of learners. Great job 5V!

5V below collaborating with each other on their maths goals. 

Year 6 Graduation – Billy G’s Cookie Dough Drive

To help support the 2020 Year 6 Graduation the P&C have kindly provided the Graduation Committee with the Billy G’s Cookie Dough Drive. This week all students across the school will receive a letter on how they can purchase Billy G’s Cookie Dough and also how they can fundraise. All funds will go to ensuring that this year’s graduation, despite our challenges, is a wonderful event.

Transition to Secondary School

This week we continued our work on transitioning our Year 6 students into their secondary schooling pathway. To ensure that both Mango Hill State School and Mango Hill State Secondary College are a coalition, we hosted members of the College leadership team to observe our Professional Learning Committees for Year 5 and 6. These are a hour meeting for each teaching team to examine the current curriculum, track student learning and plan high impact pedagogy that will improve outcomes. We also worked with Ms Jodie Major, Head of Inclusive Learning and Engagement, as she met many of our students who will be commencing at the school next year.

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

Precision in Curriculum and Pedagogy to Engage, Stretch and Include all

At our school, we implement quality teaching and learning programs in every classroom with a focus on all students succeeding.  This includes providing differentiated learning opportunities for all students to engage, stretch and include all. 

Recently some students took part in the ICAS competition as a way to stretch themselves.  We can’t wait to see the results of this challenge, but we already feel enormously proud of the growth mindset displayed by all.  As students move into Year 5 and 6, there are some other programs on offer.  This year, several Year 5 and 6 students have been involved in IMPACT, an intensive course in either Critical Thinking, Writing or Maths. We also have 12 dedicated Year 6 students who are participating in Sci Connect, an extension Science program with Murrumba State Secondary College. These students stretch their thinking and abilities to explore STEM through hands on lessons and projects. We are also excited for our four finalists in the Lions Club public speaking competition, who have given up their lunch times to practise for the finals in Term 4, competing against four local schools.

Take care
Ellaine and the ILT
ewarn23@eq.edu.au

Speaking and Listening

This week during English time we can hear and see many students working hard on their speaking and listening task. The Year 3 students are preparing to present their debate, after watching a super example by the Year 3 teachers; while the Year 6 students are preparing to present their original poems as part of a Poetry Slam. In Prep students are working on some funny rhyming poems and in Year 4 there are some super ebooks being created with visual and spoken text. Speaking and listening are such fundamental skills for life, and play an important role in our school English program. We look forward to celebrating the success of these new learnings in the coming weeks.

Borrowing

Don’t forget that there is still time to borrow a book to read over the holidays. The holidays are a great time to catch up on some AR reading so pop on down to the Hub before school (from 8.15am) and after school (until 3pm) this week or next.

Lost Property

While we endeavour to return all lost items to their owners, sometimes the names are hard to read or have disappeared with time. We have a large pile of non-school and school jumpers as well as hats. Everyone is welcome to pop on down to see if they can be reunited with a lost item.

Have a great week 
Suzette
shol0@eq.edu.au

Girl’s AFLQ Schools Cup

Last Monday 15 girls from MHSS represented our school at the annual AFLQ Schools Cup Competition which this year was played at Maroochydore Sports Complex. This was the 3^rd year Mango Hill SS had entered the girls into the competition. In that time MHSS had only one win from the competition, but with new coach Miss Elliott and returning manager Mrs Duffey, and a whole heap of new talent coming into the team, the confidence was high going in. There were 18 teams competing with MHSS placed in a pool against Good Shepherd Lutheran College, Mooloolaba SS and Banksia Beach SS.

MHSS first game was against Good Shepherd Lutheran College. This was the best game MHSS have had for our girls’ team in 3 years with the team kicking 3 goals and 1 behind to take an easy victory. This was a huge confidence boost for the team. 

The second game was against a much tougher opponent, Mooloolaba SS. They were very well organised and pushed our girls very hard. Huge efforts from Layla H, Mikayla M and Laura M weren’t enough and eventually MHSS suffered a heavy defeat. Spirits did remain high and the girls were keen to play the next game. 

The final game was against what has become MHSS nemesis, Banksia Beach SS.  They had beaten MHSS quite convincingly the previous 2 years so MHSS were well and truly up for the game. If MHSS were to win they would progress to the quarter finals. The game was very intense and both teams put on a lot of physical pressure. MHSS was led by Laura M, Mia D and Maddie S who all showed great strength and determination to take on the Banksia Beach SS team. It was a low scoring affair with Banksia Beach SS kicking just 3 behinds. But this was enough for them to scrape home and knock MHSS out. 

While ultimately the results did not go the way to make it through to the finals, all of the girls performed extremely well and as a team, MHSS were significantly improved. Miss Elliott and Mrs Duffey were extremely proud of each of the girls who participated on the day and could not have asked for a more committed and lovely group of students. The commitment shown by these students to not only attend the day, but also to participate in training after school is a credit to them and their families. 

A very special thank you goes out to the wonderful parents who came as team officials and helped out. Without this wonderful support days like this would not run as smoothly as they did. 

Boy’s AFLQ Schools Cup

On Monday 18 boys from MHSS represented our school at the annual AFLQ Schools Cup Competition which this year was played at Maroochydore Sports Complex. This was the 4^th year Mango Hill SS had entered into the competition. MHSS finished 2^nd place in the past two years district events so the team was excited to improve and try and make it further into the competition.  There were 20 teams competing with MHSS placed in a pool against Buddina SS, Tewantin SS and Good Shepherd Lutheran College.

The boys team, captained by Noah R, played Buddina SS in its first match.  An extremely close and low scoring match as both teams found there feet to start the competition.  Eventually, the game ended in a very tough 3-3 draw.

After a short break Tewantin SS were the next challengers.  For this game, the MHSS boys were ready and out of the blocks quickly.  An easy victory for MHSS.  Highlights included a cheeky banana goal from Hayden B and some tenacious tackling from Angus B and Noah R.

In the last round match MHSS played Good Shepherd Lutheran College, who had two previous wins and were shaping up as our biggest competition.  MHSS started a little slowly and where behind at half time 3-1. But the boy’s team dug in and with only a few minutes remaining, Hayden B kicked a very important goal to put MHSS in the lead.  A nervous last few minutes and some great defence by Noah H, James R and Jack C in particular, MHSS snuck home buy 2 points. 

For the first time in the school’s history, MHSS had made it out of the pool stage and through to the finals!!!

In the quarter finals MHSS were matched against Mooloolaba SS. Mr Vlieg had the boys ready and focused.  Unfortunately, Mooloolaba SS shot out for an early 2 goal lead. Huge efforts from Fergus C, James R and again, Noah R weren’t enough as Mooloolaba SS continues to score at will. Eventually the game finished 32-0 and MHSS were eliminated from the competition. 

While disappointed, the MHSS team realised there were up against a very good team and were gallant in defeat.  Mr Vlieg made comment that all of the boys that attended performed admirably with the team values of sportsmanship and trying their best upheld for the entire day.

A very special thank you goes out to the wonderful parents who came as team officials and helped out.  Without this wonderful support days like this would not run as smoothly as they did last week. 

Thank you 
Nick
nhill96@eq.edu.au

Junior Concert Band

It was so exciting to see the Junior Concert Band meet for the first time in Week 6 and to hear them play together in Week 8. The students did an excellent job at setting up the rehearsal space and were ready to follow their conductor, Mr James. They were very successful in ‘playing the same notes at the same time’ and the look of accomplishment on their faces was great to witness.

Thank you 
Claire 

P and C Father's Day Raffle Success 

A big thank you to all families and friends who purchased tickets in our recent Father's Day Raffle. We are tallying up the final fundraising amount and will discuss options at the P&C meeting on Monday 14 September. A shout out once again to our great donors who helped contribute to our prize pool - 

We received support from the following businesses & families.

• Mango Hill Skirmish
• Helping Hands
• Red Digital Systems
• The Athlete's Foot North Lakes
• Kara Gough Prep D Teacher
• Best Western North Lakes Hotel
• BOQ North Lakes
• City Cave North Lakes
• MyFoot Dr North Lakes & Redcliffe
• Meatland
• Tang family
• the Puckeridges
• the Dumbell family
• the Fosters 
• Radika Reddy.

I hope all the fathers and carers enjoyed their day on Sunday.

Below is a photo of the happy winner of the second prize collecting his 'wheelie good prize' - a wheelbarrow jammed packed with all sorts of goodies.

With thanks 
Renee

Helping Hands