Term 1 Week 6 2024
- Principal's News by Ange Padgett
- Team Mango We All Belong!
- Prep News by Mieke Munko
- Year 1 News by Melinda White
- Year 2 News by Kylie Vaughan
- Year 3 News by Kris Olsen
- Year 4 News by Danielle O'Brien
- Year 5 News by Greg McCallum
- Year 6 News by Ben Mills
- Curriculum News
- Sporting News by The PE Department
- Community News
Dear Team Mango
Students have been working hard in all learning areas to enact teacher feedback in order to enact their next steps in learning. A highlight of my job is when I visit class rooms to speak to students about their learning. I’m interested in knowing whether students can talk to me about things they are doing well, what their next steps are and whether they can evidence these things in their learning. Students at Mango Hill are encouraged to take ownership of their learning and to understand where they are at in their learning journey. We encourage them to have a voice over the resources they need to assist them in their next steps. I’m really proud of how our students are invested in their learning!
On Monday March 11 the P&C will be holding their AGM. During the AGM all executive positions become vacant and nominations will be called. If you are interested in being part of our P&C please come along.
Our Year 3 and 5s will be taking part in NAPLAN soon. I have encouraged our students to relax and enjoy the experience. NAPLAN is a test in time. It does not define our students. As a parent I know we can be anxious for our children to do well and sometimes unbeknown to us, this anxiety can transcend to our students. Please align your messages to our school messages – do your best, have a growth mindset, we value all of our students and will regardless of the outcome. We have been sharing some NAPLAN tips with our students including the following.
NAPLAN Tip Number 1
You need to answer every question, even if you are unsure of the answer. Read it, have a little look at it and destroy any answers you think are not right. If there are two or three that you think could be the answer. Pick one and move on. Don’t leave it blank because you have a chance of getting it right.
NAPLAN Tip Number 2
Smartest doesn’t always mean fastest. Make sure you take your time to read the question well. Think about what the question is really asking you. Use your pencil and paper to do some working out and make sure to check your answer before moving on.
NAPLAN Tip Number 3
NAPLAN is going to mix some easy questions with a couple of hard questions. But remember just because it looks hard doesn’t mean it is actually hard. It might be easier than you think.
NAPLAN Tip Number 4 for Numeracy
During the numeracy test just remember the questions are math that you should be able to do. If you are in Year 3 your questions will be questions from Prep, Year 1 and Year 2. If you are in Year 5 your questions will be from Prep, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4. They might just look a little tricky so take your time, think about what the question is asking, what numbers are important, what words are written with italics or bold, use your pencil and paper for some working out and have a go. Just remember we have been practising in class with our complex problem solving so you will be just fine!
NAPLAN Tip Number 5 for Reading
When you come to read some of the texts, they might look hard but don’t panic because you are a good reader. Look at the heading, look at the pictures, skim and scan to get the idea for what it is really about. When you read the question go back and scan again for the answer and remember… the answer is always in the text.
Cross Country
Towards the end of this week, both the junior and senior cross country events will take place. Although it is nice to be a place getter, not everyone can win. I encourage all students to have a go, even if this means they walk the course. Students receive points for their house by participating. We want to make this a fun event for all levels of fitness. We welcome your attendance to these events.
Ange Padgett
Principal
apadg6@eq.edu.au
Focus of the Week
This week in Care Class we will be focusing on Care for Self by using the High 5 and Seeking Help Appropriately. The ‘High 5’ is a conflict resolution tool that can be used by students to help them develop problem-solving strategies. It is a whole school approach that can assist in resolving conflict both in the classroom and in the playground.
Here are some examples of using the High 5.
- A friend may use unkind words and the High 5 is a great strategy to help problem solve.
- A friend might tell you something and you’re worried about them, so you could speak with a grown up about how to help them.
- An event may happen that is serious and you need to get adult help straight away, therefore you would not use the High 5 as a process and instead you would report immediately to a trusted adult.
- A student is “being annoying”, in this situation walking away is the best option, to give yourself some space.
It is important to note that you may not always follow the ‘High 5’ as a process (by starting at the pinky) and at times you may need to report first - this is determined by the seriousness of the situation.
Volunteer Induction
Changes to Office Hours
The path connecting Gigum Hall and the Bike Cage on the path from Kinsellas Road is now complete. This includes a pedestrian crossing through the staff car park. Please be advised this crossing will not have Crossing Supervisors so please assist your children to cross safely by reminding them to wait for cars to come to a stop before crossing.
We were successful in gaining a STIP grant from TMR and works on a new Bus Shelter in front of Administration will commence over the Easter break.
We have engaged consultants to assist with the ongoing wash issues in the Prep Astro turf. We look forward to hearing their recommendations and start work on these as soon as possible.
Visible Learning
It is hard to believe we are more than half way through Term 1. I invite you to take a minute or two to reflect on how much your child has achieved in the last 6 weeks. We have seen so much growth and thank you for partnering with us in getting off to a strong start.
‘Visible learning’ is an approach used by teachers across Mango Hill State School. Visible learning allows our learners to see clearly what they are learning about, how to learn, where they are at and what they can do to improve their work. This occurs in your child’s class through the ‘Bump it Up Wall’ which you may have noticed in class, along with a scale and checklist. Your child is referred to these most days of the week to support their learning in English. This term’s English learning is about representing and conveying ideas through images. After 5 weeks of explicit teaching, feedback, and using the bump it up wall to see how to improve work, children’s drawings have developed and improved. Please enjoy some examples below. Great work Preppies!
Mieke Munko
Deputy Principal-Prep
mmunk1@eq.edu.au
Learning to Partition Numbers
Our Year 1 Friends are working so hard to learn to partition numbers in standard and flexible ways.
To have a deep sense of number and the value of a number, you need to be able to manipulate the number.
56 is five tens and six ones.
But 56 is also:
* 55 ones and one one
* 3 tens and 2 tens and 3 ones and 3 ones
* 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 6
* 2 tens and 2 tens and 1 ten and five ones and one one
See? We can show the value of 56 in multiple ways!
When we can “part” the “whole” flexibly, it means we truly understand the value. Knowing this is a vital building block for progressing our maths knowledge.
Many of our Year 1 friends are still learning this skill. You can help by tackling numbers to 100 in the home.
You could:
* have a 100s board on the back of the toilet door! Captive audience for counting! Forwards and backwards is important. Locate numbers on the chart. Find one more. Find one less. Find ten more. Find 10 less.
* talk about more or less, play ‘would you rather’ together. Would you rather 27 donuts or 33 donuts? Why?
* point numbers out in the real world. Speed signs. House numbers.
A friendly reminder to our Year 1 carers to ensure all of the required apps are installed on iPads and iPads are connected to our network before bringing them to school. You can find the app list via our school website at:
Our Year 1 teachers are finding it tricky to use our iPads in class creatively and productively when so many students don’t have the required apps installed. We’d really appreciate your help with this, Family Teams!
Melinda White
Deputy Principal- Year 1
mwhit37@eq.edu.au
Counting and Calculating in Year 2
The children in Year 2 have just started a new unit of work in Maths all about counting and calculating. Specifically, they are exploring how different computation strategies can be used to solve addition and subtraction problems.
One of the strategies the children are learning to use is the jump strategy. When children use this strategy it is helpful for them to use a number line. They think in jumps. First jumping in increments of ten and then in ones to arrive at the solution.
Another strategy the children explore is the split strategy. For this strategy, children split numbers into their place value parts to make the numbers easier to add. Numbers are split into tens and ones with each being added together to find the total.
The final strategy is called the compensate strategy. When students use this strategy, they add a number to one addend to make a more friendly number. They then subtract from the other later on to ensure that the balance remains the same.
Reptile Incursion
The students in Year 2 have been very excited about this week’s reptile incursion. 2C, 2F and 2I were the first of the Year 2s to visit today. The other classes will go on the following days.
- Thursday, 11 – 12pm 2R
- Thursday, 12 – 1pm 2E
- Thursday 1 – 2pm 2M
- Friday, 9:10 – 10:10am 2T
- Friday 11 – 12pm 2L
- Friday 1 – 2pm 2P
We look forward to hearing all about the students’ experiences when they write their recounts next week in class.
Kylie Vaughan
Deputy Principal- Year 2
kvaug3@eq.edu.au
Year 3 Science
This term in science, we have been exploring life cycles. We certainly have some future scientists across our classes, who have been classifying and comparing living and non-living things. Over the coming weeks, they will be communicating their ideas by writing a life cycle story from the perspective of a living thing. I can’t wait to see their fantastic ideas!
Cross Country Must Haves
This Friday is our Cross-Country event for 2024. It has been great watching students walking through their course and learning about the race expectations in their PE lessons. A few key things to remember on the day.
- Hats and Sunscreen - It is predicted to be a hot sunny day on Friday, so students should wear their hats to the oval but are allowed to compete the course without their hats. Sunscreen will be provided.
- Footwear - Students need to wear enclosed footwear suitable for cross country course.
- Water bottle - All students should bring a water bottle down to the oval with them for before and after their race.
We would love to see our family and friends down at the oval to support students who are running. For those spectators that are sports enthusiasts like myself, we encourage you to wear house colours to show support for Barton (Green), Flynn (Blue) and Walker (Orange) houses. There is a designated spectator area that our students would love to see you cheering from.
Deputy Principal Year 3
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, 4P, 4S, 4A and 4O 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.
Danielle O'Brien
Deputy Principal- Year 4
dxobr0@eq.edu.au
Educational Achievement
This week, it was wonderful to get into the classrooms and see the amazing work students are doing in relation to applying feedback.
In 5D, student having been working collaboratively to enhance their work. Students take turns to take on a variety of author and editor roles.
- Author
- Engagement Rater
- Question master
- Reporter
Examples of improved work include:
- ‘Hope was not all lost’
- ‘The wind was howling like it was a werewolf’
In 5P students were also applying feedback to improve their writing.
Examples included:
- ‘Brookes eye’s were flooding with water’
- ‘Hearts peaceful, tummies full, taste buds excited’
- ‘Mind racing a mile a minute, like a race car’
Using figurative language is a way authors use their craft to engage their audience, using a more creative tone that provokes thinking and emotions. It makes writing more interesting and dramatic than the literal language that uses words to refer to statements of fact.
When students see themselves as authors they make deliberate decisions to entertain an audience.
Brain / Movement Breaks
Brain breaks and movement breaks are part of our CPR (Consistent, Predictable Routines) at Mango Hill State School. With all this hard work it is great to see students participating in brain / movement breaks so they can reset while having some fun.
Greg McCallum
Deputy Principal- Year 5
gmcca24@eq.edu.au
Learning in Year 6
This week I’ve spent some time in classrooms while students have been learning about angles. Both 6E and 6J were challenged by their teachers to find unknown angles, using their understanding of supplementary and complimentary angles. During the lesson in 6E, I asked some students about what supplementary and complimentary angles were, and how this helps them to solve unknown angles. They were able to tell me that complimentary angles are angles that add up to 90 degrees and form a right angle. Supplementary angles are angles that add up to 180 degrees and form a straight line. Students explained to me that they could calculate the unknown angle by subtracting the known angle from the total number of degrees.
Along with learning about angles, students in Year 6 are also learning about units of measurement as a part of their current Maths unit. A key skill involved in this unit is converting between different units of measurement. There are some wonderful opportunities to practise this at home with your children including while cooking dinner, doing some gardening or doing the washing.
Upcoming events in Year 6
On Friday 1 March, we have the senior cross country. The 11 year boys and girls will start just after 9am and the 12 year old boys and girls will start just before 10am. Parents are welcome to come along and support!
From the 11-13 March, our Year 6 classes will each visit Parliament House on their HASS excursion. Consent forms have been sent out for this excursion via the QParents app.
Please let your child’s teacher know if you have any concerns regarding these events.
Save The Date
Ben Mills
Deputy Principal –Year 6
bxmil3@eq.edu.au
Accelerated Reader Millionaire’s Club
As part of the AR program, we are able to track the number of words read by each student. For some students this means they can set a goal – to reach 100 000 words, or 500 000 words or even one million words.
We love to celebrate our Millionaire Readers as this is such a great example of commitment and persistence with reading.
Our first Millionaire reader of the year is Liam, who reached his goal of one million words late last week. We are super proud of Liam and have added his photo to our special AR display in the Hub. Congratulations Liam and we can’t wait to see how many more words you will read this year!
NAPLAN Information
Thank you to all the parents who gave up their Friday morning to join us at our parent information session. I have attached the parent information facts sheet, Student iPad settings checklist and our NAPLAN Schedule for your perusal. Please see the following link to access the videos shared during our information session. https://www.nap.edu.au/resources
We encourage you to make contact with the relevant Deputy principal if you have any concerns regarding your child's adjustments or participation in NAPLAN. We also continue to encourage you to access the student demonstration platform in the NAP app on your child's iPad or this can also be accessed through the Public demonstration site. https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site This can provide your child with some practice using the platform. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me jxqui5@eq.edu.au.
Young Engineers
Have a fantastic week
Suzette Holm, Jessica Rivett
shol0@eq.edu.au
MHSS Senior Cross Country (Year 3-6)
On Friday 1 March 2024 (Term 1, Week 6) the Mango Hill State School Years 3-6 Senior Cross Country will be run. Attached is the timetable (please note there are 2 pages) and map for the day. Students will be instructed during PE lessons of their course and will also complete a walk through prior to the day.
All students from Year 3 to Year 6 will be running their cross country course. Students have different distances for their races (see below). The course is colour coded with markers, so depending on their race distance, students follow different marker colours (this is also on the map attached).
|
Age |
Track Distance |
|
Born 2016 & 2015 |
1.5km |
|
Born 2014 |
2km |
|
Born 2013 & 2012 |
3km |
Students who place in the top 3 for their race will receive ribbons on the podiums straight after their race. For each event students accrue house points that go towards the Cross Country House Championship. Each event has the following points:
|
Place |
Points |
|
1st |
10 |
|
2nd |
8 |
|
3rd |
6 |
|
4th |
4 |
|
5th |
2 |
|
All Other |
1 |
Therefore, each student that participates in an event will receive at least 1 point for their house. We strongly encourage all students to participate in the cross country, however if your child cannot complete the course due to injury or illness can you please inform their class teacher.
On the day students will still assemble in class as per normal at 8.30am. They will then come to the oval with their class (at their designated time as per the attachment). Some frequently asked questions have been answered below.
- My son/daughter is in Year 4. Do they run in the Morning or Middle session? For sporting events students compete according to their ‘Year of Birth’ not their grade level. Therefore, if your son/daughter is born in 2014 - they will run in the morning and if your son/daughter is born in 2015 – they will run in the middle session.
- What do students wear? – Hats must be worn to the oval but students are allowed to complete the course without their hats on (sunscreen is provided and all students must put their hat back on immediately following the race). Normal sports uniform shirt is to be worn (no house coloured shirts). Normal sports uniform shorts can be worn and students are permitted to wear running shorts/skins during the race.
- Do students have to wear shoes? – Yes, closed in footwear must be worn. Students are permitted to wear running shoes (no spikes) during the race but must change back into normal school footwear post-race.
- What do students need to take to the oval? – Students must take their hat, water bottle and brain break (if running in the morning session) to the oval. In addition, they will need any medication including Epipens and asthma puffers etc.
- Can students qualify for Districts? – Yes. Students aged 10 - 12 years (Born 2014-2012) are also eligible to be selected in the Mango Hill Cross Country Team to compete at the Pine Rivers District Cross Country Trials which will be held in Term 2. If a student places in the top 5 for their race and they complete the course in a suitable time, they will be selected in the Mango Hill State School Cross Country Team. They will receive further information about this closer to the event date.
All family and friends are welcome to come and support students who are running. Spectators are encouraged to wear house colours to show support for Barton, Flynn and Walker houses. A reminder to parents and carers that plan on attending, please make sure you remain in the designated spectator area.
MHSS Junior Cross Country (Year P-2)
On Thursday 29th February (Term 1, Week 6) the Mango Hill State School Junior Cross Country will be run. Attached is the timetable for the day and a map of the course. Students will be instructed during PE lessons of their course and will also complete a walk through.
All students from Prep to Year 2 will be running their cross-country course and will have different lengths for their races (see below). The course is colour coded with markers so depending on their race distance, students follow different markers (this will also be on the map).
|
Year Level |
Track Distance |
|
Prep |
500m |
|
Year 1 |
750m |
|
Year 2 |
1000m |
At Mango Hill State School, in the early years of schooling, we believe sporting opportunities need to be available without the pressure of competition. We want children to have a go and enjoy the experience without feeling like they have to win. Participation and enjoyment are the primary focus in Prep to Year 2 classes. For this reason, we do not award place getters on sports day or cross country. We believe in positive reinforcement for effort and there will be plenty of time later for students with special talents to be acknowledged and awarded. From Year 3, students have the opportunity to be acknowledged for excellence in various sporting pursuits.
We strongly encourage all students to participate in the cross country; however, if your child cannot complete the course due to injury or illness can you please inform their class teacher. On the day students will assemble in class as normal at 8.15am. They will then come to the oval with their class. Some frequently asked questions have been answered below.
- What do students wear? – Hats must be worn to the oval but students are allowed to complete the course without their hats on (sunscreen is provided and all students must put their hat back on immediately following the race). Normal sports uniform shirt is to be worn (no house coloured shirts). Normal sports uniform shorts can be worn and students are permitted to wear running shorts/skins during the race.
- Do students have to wear shoes? – Yes, closed in footwear must be worn. Students are permitted to wear running shoes during the race but must change back into normal school footwear post-race.
- What do students need to take to the oval? – Students must take their hat, water bottle and brain break to the oval. In addition, they will need any medication including Epipens and asthma puffers etc.
All family and friends are welcome to come and support students who are running. Spectators are encouraged to wear house colours to show support for Barton, Flynn and Walker houses. A reminder to parents and carers that plan on attending, please make sure you remain in the designated spectator area.
Mr Hills & Mr Newell, Mrs Fuller and Mr Lisha
Physical Education Teachers