Mango Hill State School eNewsletter

Principal's News by Ange Padgett

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Students have made an exceptional start to the year. As a large school, we welcome new staff and new students on a regular basis and as such, it’s important our systems and processes are explicit and clear. Over the past two weeks, staff have worked with students to unpack school processes and routines relevant to individual classrooms as well as the expectations when transitioning around the school, before and after school routines etc. Our students are doing an amazing job implementing these routines.

Over the next few weeks our school is running some Volunteer Induction Sessions. We welcome parents/carers who are interested in volunteering their time within our school. Please see below the dates for these induction sessions.

Our Welcome Afternoon is being held on Thursday 8 February. We encourage you to attend. We understand how busy our mums, dads and carers can be this time of the year. To assist with food preparation on a busy school night, parents will be able to purchase a sausage and drink from our sausage sizzle. All proceeds raised will go towards the Year 6 Graduation.

On Thursday 8 February we will be officially welcoming our student leaders into their positions. We congratulate all elected student leaders and invite their loved ones to celebrate and acknowledge this special occasion. Further details can be found in Mr Mills’ section of the newsletter.

We are seeking Team Mango's feedback. In 2024, we are looking into how we communicate with our families. As part of this process we need your feedback. Please click on the link below to take this short, 2 minute survey on how we can communicate better with you.

https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/n/e76hoNA

I’d like to thank our senior students for assisting with drop off in the mornings. They have displayed kindness, patience and have been willingly giving up their own time to assist our younger students.

Ange Padgett
Principal
apadg6@eq.edu.au

Prep News by Mieke Munko

Morning Routines

Thank you to all our Prep families for helping to establish our morning routines. By waiting behind the blue lines, encouraging independence to unpack belongings and being on time to class, our Prep friends are settling in well and are starting the day ready to learn. Each day, classes have their morning meetings when they greet and check in with each other, build relationships and prepare for the day ahead. This time is precious and it helps our learners to feel calm, connect with their teacher and friends and prepare for the learning ahead!

Learning to Draw

In English this term, Prep students are learning about the purpose of drawing which is to use pictures to share ideas. As writers and illustrators, students are working on adding detail to their drawings and giving the readers of their illustrations clues about what might be happening and where.

It is amazing to see how drawings are evolving as our Prep students receive and take on feedback from their teachers. Great work everyone!

Mieke Munko
Deputy Principal-Prep
mmunk1@eq.edu.au

Year 1 News by Melinda White

The Big Purpose

We’ve been learning about the Big Purpose of our writing unit of work. Whilst we want to write a retell of a fairy tale the MOST important part is that it will entertain our friends.

This means, our vocabulary and how we describe things to our audience will be very important.

We don’t want boring retells. We want them to be interesting, with clever details! It is tricky to know what is important and not important to include - which parts are vital to the story and which parts don’t matter so much?

You can help to support our writing work at home by reading picture books with your Year 1. The more stories we know, the more words we know and can use in our world, the better our written work becomes.

Melinda White
Deputy Principal- Year 1
mwhit37@eq.edu.au

Year 2 News by Kylie Vaughan

Starting the Day Right with Morning Meetings

All teachers in Year 2 have committed to starting each day with a class Morning Meeting. At these five minute meetings, students come together in a circle and work through a Morning Meeting protocol. The protocol includes:

saying a greeting to one another;
reviewing the school’s values and the class expectations;
celebrating any announcements and successes from the students;
engaging in a Positive Primer. A Positive Primer is a fun activity that encourages the flow of positive emotions to help students to feel energise, happy and in a positive frame of mind so that they are ready to learn; and
acknowledging the things that are going well for the students with a What Went Well.

This routine gives teachers the time to meaningfully check in and connect with each student in their class. It sets each child up to get more out of the learning and sets the tone for a positive day.

Here’s what some children in 2P said about the Morning Meeting.

‘I like doing our Positive Primer. I always laugh.’ – Hamish.
‘The Positive Primer is funny.’ – Emilisha.
‘I like saying good morning to my friends.’ – Seerat.
‘I do the greeting to say hello to everyone.’ - Janco

Check out the students in 2P starting their day with the Morning Meeting.

Afternoon Routines

Last week I reminded families that Helping Hands educators will meet the Year 2 children in the Junior Undercover Area. This is in fact incorrect. Helping Hands will meet Year 2 students in Gigum Hall.

Also a friendly reminder that students should wear their hats home from school at the end of each day.

when we take the time to check in and connect with our young people, we are not only setting them up to get much more out of the learning, but we are providing an opportunity for us, as educators, to get on the front foot of any potential issues that may present as speedbumps for learning.

The first 5 minutes of class are critical for setting the tone for the rest of the learning. Consistent rhythms and routines, particularly ones that embed intentional positive micro-moments, are powerful healing interventions as they “help build confidence that positive events will occur and …flexibility when unexpected events are encountered” (Brunzell, 2016, p.76). Welcome circles – nurturing routines that support engagement in learning and wellbeing (Roffey, 2006) – are a key strategy for consistently embedding strengths and also tending to the body and relational connection.

This routine of forming a circle with our young people to review key values and expectations and celebrate any announcements and successes, serves as a threshold between the outside world and the complex task of learning. It allows young people to ground themselves, co-regulate and establish a common rhythm for the learning day. We know that schools are often pressed for time, and it can be tempting to jump straight into content. However, when we take the time to check in and connect with our young people, we are not only setting them up to get much more out of the learning, but we are providing an opportunity for us, as educators, to get on the front foot of any potential issues that may present as speedbumps for learning.

At the start of the day, all students gather for a Morning Circle. The circle is a great time to welcome students, frame the learning for the day, and help everyone in the community be ready to learn.

Kylie Vaughan
Deputy Principal- Year 2
kvaug3@eq.edu.au

Year 3 News by Kris Olsen

Building Strong Connections

What a terrific start we have made to the 2024 school year. In just 7 short days of learning our students are building strong connections with their peers and teachers. In Year 3, we start each day with a morning meeting. This meeting provides our students a chance to build meaningful relationships and sets clear expectations of a positive classroom culture. It has been super exciting visiting rooms each morning, hearing all the wonderful ways we greet each other and the sharing of special announcements from our students.

We've also hit the ground running with our writing. This week our students have been creating persuasive pieces. We have begun our work in brainstorming and planning our pieces. This helps us have clear ideas. I have seen some very persuasive pieces, particularly around why our all students should have pets. We have so many amazing writers in Year 3!

Kris Olsen
Deputy Principal- Year 3
kolse55@eq.edu.au

Year 4 News by Danielle O'Brien

Writing

Our students have picked up where they left off last year in writing! I was fortunate to see many of our classes continue reading the novel 'My Girragundji' - brainstorming entertaining events they think will happen next and using their clever vocabulary to describe characters and events.

It has also been wonderful to see our students designing sustainable homes, considering the climate and communicating their design ideas using annotated diagrams!

Check out some of the photos below!

Danielle O'Brien
Deputy Principal- Year 4
dxobr0@eq.edu.au

Year 5 News by Greg McCallum

Greg McCallum Year 5 Deputy Principal

What a great start to the year (although the heat, humidity and rain have presented some challenges).

Thank you to all the parents for helping us ensure students have all the correct school supplies and the correct uniforms to start the year. Please remind your child to be wearing their hat, to and from school, so we can help keep students sun safe. If you are having trouble with either school supplies or the correct school uniform, please contact the classroom teacher or myself so we can develop a plan to support your child.

English

It has been fantastic to see students engaged and excited when writing narratives and persuasive texts throughout the week. Some of the great work teachers have been doing with their classes include:

helping students to see themselves as an author who makes deliberate choices when planning a narrative, to engage an audience.
switching on ideas when creating persuasive text. This has included convincing the classroom chairs to return to work.

I look forward to another great week of learning.

Greg McCallum
Deputy Principal- Year 5
gmcca24@eq.edu.au

Year 6 News by Ben Mills

Introducing our Student Captains for 2024

This week you may have started to see our Student Captains for 2024 of a morning, welcoming families into the school and raising our flags. We have a total of 29 Student Captains including School and Vice Captains, as well as Sports, Sustainability, Diversity, Reconciliation and Performing Arts Captains. During their time at our school, these students have consistently demonstrated the Mango Hill Values and Cares. They are excellent role models for the Team Mango community.

Further to our Student Captains, we also have a number of Mango Mentors across Year 6. Our Mango Mentors will be presented with their badges in their classes over the coming week. Mango Mentors play an important role every year in serving the Team Mango community.

On Friday 9 February, we will hold our student leader badge ceremony for our Student Captains in Year 6 and Student Councillors in Year 4 and 5. The ceremony will be held from 9am in Gigum Hall. Email invitations will be sent to families of leaders by the end of the week.

Learning in Year 6

Year 6 have been learning about Number Properties to start the term in Maths. They have been learning how to identify numbers as Prime, Composite, Square, Triangular or a combination of these. In 6W, Mr White challenged students to prove how they determined the properties of a given number. It was great to see students showing their thinking and working out using visuals.

Cybersafety Awareness

Our students are regular and effective users of technology. This is a wonderful thing as it opens up a world of possibilities for them to be creative and to learn new things in interesting and efficient ways. However, we know that technology can present challenges when we are not aware of the potential negative consequences. One specific challenge for students at this age can be interacting appropriately with social media. During the year, we are looking to provide some programs to support educate our students and families on this topic.

Another useful resource is from the eSafety Commissioner website, with access to free webinars to support parents and carers: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars . Check it out!

Ben Mills
Deputy Principal –Year 6
bxmil3@eq.edu.au

Curriculum News

Borrowing from the Hub

It was great to see our students back in the Hub and borrowing books this week!

In order to ‘care for the environment’ and our precious library books, it would be great if all students had a special library bag when borrowing. This can be a Mango Hill library bag purchased from the uniform shop or any kind of plastic or material bag. We don’t mind what the library bag looks like, but we know it will be super important to protect our books from the other things (including lunch boxes and water bottles) in our school bags.

We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Hub opening hours

The Hub is open every morning from 8.15am and until 3pm every afternoon. All students are welcome to visit before or after school to choose and borrow a book.

Year 3 and 5 NAPLAN

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment.

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.

All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper.

What does NAPLAN assess?

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum.

Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The questions assess content linked to the Australian Curriculum: English and Mathematics.

Adjustments

Adjustments are available for students with disability who have diverse functional abilities and needs.

We will work with parents/carers and students to identify, on a case-by-case basis, reasonable adjustments required for individual students with disability to access NAPLAN. Adjustments should reflect the support normally provided for classroom assessments.

In exceptional circumstances, a student with a disability that severely limits their capacity to participate in the assessment, or a student who has recently arrived in Australia and has a non-English speaking background, may be granted a formal exemption.

If you have any concerns about your child’s participation in NAPLAN, please make contact with your child’s class teacher or contact our HOD Jessica Rivett at jxqui5@eq.edu.au.

KEY DATES:

NAPLAN PRACTICE TESTS (Week 6- Wednesday 28 FEB) Student, teacher and TECH support Trial.

NAPLAN TESTING WINDOW (13- 25 MARCH)

Code Camp

Mango_Hill_SS_Letter_to_Parents_29.01.2024.pdf

Mango_Hill_SS_Letter_to_Parents_29 _01 _2024 _pdf 521.09 KB

Have a fantastic week
Suzette Holm, Jessica Rivett
shol0@eq.edu.au

jxqui5@eq.edu.au

Sporting News by The PE Department

Pine Rivers District Sporting Trials (10-12yr Old’s)

Pine Rivers District School Sport (PRDSS) offers 10-12 Year old students the opportunity to 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.

Most PRD 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) and have several years’ experience. Cross Country, Athletics and Swimming trials however are open for students turning 10, 11 and 12 years of age. PRD trials are not for students who are learning to play or are inexperienced. Sports that students are able to trial for include the following.

AFL
Baseball
Basketball
Cricket
Football (Soccer)
Golf
Hockey
Netball
Rugby League
Rugby Union
Softball
Squash
Tennis
Touch
Triathlon

2024 District Trial Nomination Process

A new process for nominating for PRDSS will be implemented for 2024.

Step 1 - Trial Information will be placed in the MHSS newsletter. Parents can email Mr Nick Hills (nhill96@eq.edu.au) to express interest in their son/daughter attending.

Step 2 – If necessary, MHSS will host a MHSS trial to select appropriate students for the district trials (normally completed if more than 5 students want to attend).

Step 3 – Schools distribute the Trial Nomination and Information Form (with A QR Scan code) to their selected students. Families/students complete the scan code to nominate for a trial before the closing date – no students will be able to access this nomination Scan code after the closing date.

Step 4 – Pine Rivers District School Sport collates scan code information and emails parents/students with the District Trial Notice & Trial Package.

Step 5 – Families/Students returns completed forms electronically to the Pine Rivers District Coach/Manager.

Mango Hill can normally nominate up to five students for each district sport trial. If more than five students wish to be nominated Mango Hill will select the five 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.

Pine_Rivers_District_Sport_Trials.pdf

Pine_Rivers_District_Sport_Trials _pdf 140.40 KB

Mango Hill State School Cross Country (Year Prep-6)

All students from Years Prep to 6 will be competing in the 2024 MHSS Cross Country Race. This is completed in the morning 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 6 – 29 February
Year 3-6: Friday Week 6 – 1 March

Sporting Lunch Clubs

At MHSS we provide opportunities for students to participate in lunch time clubs, which includes clubs directly related to sporting teams. The following clubs are offered in Term 1 with all students in Year 4-6 able to attend.

Sport	Time/Place	Teacher	Notes
Soccer	Monday @ 1^st break on the Oval	Mr Newell and Mr Smith	Important for any student that wants to be selected in the MHSS “A Team“ for Soccer to compete at interschool sport and competition days
Soccer	Tuesday @ 2^nd break on the Oval (Year 5/6 only)	Mr Newell

Boys League Tag	Tuesday @ 1^st break on the Oval	Mr Vlieg and Mr Frisby	League Tag is an option for Interschool Sport (Year 5-6) so any student wanting to chose this for Interschool Sport it is recommended they attend
Girls League Tag	Thursday @ 1^st break on the Oval	Mrs Drummond and Miss Roberts

Netball	Monday @ 2^nd break on the Multipurpose Court	Mrs Faulkner	Important for any student that wants to be selected in the MHSS Netball team that competes at Interschool Sport and in the QLD Netball Cup in Term 3
Netball	Thursday @ 2^nd break on the Multipurpose Court	Miss Hodges

Rugby Union	Wednesday @ 2^nd break on the Oval	Mr MrGregor	Important for any student that wants to be selected in the MHSS Rugby Union team that competes at competition days

Girls AFL	Thursday @ 2^nd break on the Oval	Mr Hills	Important for any student that wants to be selected in the MHSS AFL teams that competes at the AFLQ Schools Cup in Term 2
Boys AFL	Friday @ 2^nd break on the Oval	Mr Vlieg