Mango Hill State School eNewsletter

Principal's News by Ange Padgett

Dear Team Mango

This week we have hosted Berry Street training for approximately 350 educators from our Critical Friends Network. Berry Street is a trauma informed education model that is being implemented at Mango Hill State School. It equips schools with practical, classroom-based strategies to increase the engagement of all students.

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 15 March 2024, 9am.

The focus of these interviews is to share how your child is progressing in the key areas of social and emotional wellbeing, English and Mathematics, 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 click on the link below for further instructions on how to book an interview.

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 11 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 Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Friday 22 March. Envelopes have been sent home.

A reminder that students should wear their formal uniform on the day they are scheduled for photos. Class teachers will let you know when your child's class photo time will be in the coming days and the whole schedule will be posted in next week's newsletter.

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 which has already been sent home.

Ange Padgett
Principal
apadg6@eq.edu.au

Team Mango We All Belong!

Yarn and Eats

Spelling Bee

Event Planner

Please feel free to print this document off and stick in on the fridge!

Volunteer Induction

Mango Hill State Secondary College

Prep News by Mieke Munko

First Cross Country

Thank you for coming to enjoy the cross-country event on Thursday last week. It was a hot day but that didn’t stop our Preppies. Here they are heading to their house tents and leaving the starting line. The ice blocks on completion were a welcome treat!

Sorting

In Maths our Prep learners have been focusing on sorting sets of objects based on common characteristics. The photo of a Maths learning wall shows some ways the children are learning to sort and here are some pictures of some clever sorting going on in Prep T.

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

Year 1 News by Melinda White

Year 1 Routines

We continue to work on our Consistent, Predictable Routines in Year 1. Routines and being able to follow routines are key to learning!

Ever heard of routine stacking?

That’s when you add a small, new step to existing, conquered steps.

Say you need to remember to take a new medication every morning, but you keep forgetting. But, every morning you make yourself a coffee before you have a shower and get dressed. You might put the medicine near the coffee, to prompt you to take it. It’s just one more small step to add to an already established routine.

Learning new things at school can be similar. As our students grow and mature, we need them to be able to do more things with independence, to then be able to tackle more challenging curriculum concepts.

We need to have our pencil cases or pencil pots sorted so we can then start on time. The next step? Having sharp pencils ready for the day.

We need to remember our hats. Perhaps when we leave the house every morning, we put our hats on? Or maybe we keep our hat where we store our uniform? What will help us to remember our hats each day?

Charging the iPad at home, packing and unpacking our lunch boxes, bringing a water bottle. They might seem like small things… but when we forget to do them, they greatly impact our day at school.

What’s one thing you’d change about your home morning routines, to get out that front door just a little more easily? Try stacking that thing into an already existing routine and see how you go!

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

Year 2 News by Kylie Vaughan

Going Wild in Year 2

The Year 2s went wild last week when they visited the Reptile Adventures Show. The presenter Claudine, entertained the students by showing off her amazing collection of native Australian reptiles and amphibians. There were snakes, bearded dragons, skinks, frogs, lizards, turtles and pythons. Not only did the students get to learn all about these animals but they got up close and personal, even getting to handle some of these amazing creatures.

Here’s what some of the children in 2C said about the show….

‘The python massaged my leg. I really liked the croc too.’ – Davis.

‘I loved feeling the snake. He felt cold.’ – Seth.

‘Hector the lizard looked like he had two heads.’ – Cataleya.

‘The crocodile’s mouth was closed so it didn’t bite. Crocodiles live to be one hundred years old.’ – Samuel.

‘I liked the turtle. It had a smooth shell and long claws.’ – Analisa.

This fabulous incursion will become the stimulus for the children’s writing assessment. We can’t wait to read all about their experiences at the show.

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

Year 3 News by Kris Olsen

Year 3 Authors

Week 7 is here! Time has flown this term and we are well and truly into the thick of our writing unit. This week it has been wonderful visiting rooms to see our wonderful writing. Our focus has shifted to narrative writing with students creating imaginative texts. In 3G students have created stories about creating cupcakes for an enemy, these were very entertaining. I particularly enjoyed talking with student on how they could improve their work. So many friends told me about the feedback they were receiving from their teacher and peers. I loved hearing students explain their next step that was written on a blue sticky note and could talk about how adding or ‘bumping up’ this goal, would help make their story even more entertaining.

Try for 5

Every day at school matters! We understand that everyone is sick from time to time however consistent absence is not ok. I would encourage you to reach out to your classroom teacher regarding any barriers that prevent your child attending school each day. Consistently missing 1 day per week, our students miss almost a term of learning across the year. Working as a partnership, we can ensure our children are supported, engaged and are learners every day at Mango Hill State School. Our upcoming Parent Teacher meetings are a great opportunity to connect with class teachers.

Kris Olsen
Deputy Principal Year 3

kolse55@eq.edu.au

Year 4 News by Danielle O'Brien

Number Facts

At MHSS we place a high value on students learning and knowing their number facts. Number facts are simple addition, subtraction, multiplication or division number sentences. They are the number sentences that students are expected to ‘just know’.

‘Just knowing’ these facts is not easy as there are so many to learn. Because of this, it is important that students have strategies for calculating simple number facts, while they learn and become more fluent with them. Therefore, we prioritise a strategy-focussed approach to learning number facts, whereby students have the opportunity to practise their facts through games and activities, but are also explicitly taught how to find an answer when they don’t know it.

Students practise their number facts regularly at school. Ask them to teach you a game they have learned and join in the fun!

Collaborative Learning in Year 4!

Across Year 4, teachers have been promoting and teaching students to work as a team and collaborate with their peers. Skills such as communication, problem-solving, creativity and cooperation are important life skills that contribute to students developing their social skills and ability to learn and work with others. It was great to see 4B engaging in a positive primer which supported building their collaborative learning skills! Check out the photos below.

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

Year 5 News by Greg McCallum

Wellbeing

As we move into the last three weeks of Term 1, it is a timely reminder to reflect on your child/ren’s attendance. Please sign into QParents where you are able to check the attendance rate of your child. https://qparents.qld.edu.au

If your child has unexplained absences please provide the reason so we have the correct information in our system.

For students who have an attendance rate of below 85%, their learning and social connections are significantly impacted.

Students with an attendance rate of 85% are missing 6 weeks of learning per year.

If your child is missing school on a regular basis, please contact the classroom teacher or their Deputy Principal to discuss how we can support positive attendance.

Academic Achievement: Show don’t Tell

This week students in Year 5 have been refining their writing to engage the reader. One common strategy writers use when creating narratives is Show / Don’t Tell.

Students are learning to describe

what they see
what they hear
what they feel.

Rather Than	You Could Write
‘The people were scared’	‘Teeth chattering, hands trembling, body shaking’
‘I was shocked’	‘My eyes suddenly popped out of my head’

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

Year 6 News by Ben Mills

Mango Mentors

During the week, I was able to present another group of students with their Mango Mentors badges. I am so proud of this wonderful group of students who have worked so hard over a period of time to demonstrate the Mango Hill Care and Values. Well done to Trinity, Ava K, Alicia, Jaxon G, Ronav, Ravya, Mareau, Mia and Summah who received their badge this week.

Our Mango Mentors will soon be rostered on to mentoring some of our students in the lower school. I know they will do a fantastic job at being great role models to our younger peers.

High school transitions for 2025

Although this feels like a long way off, the time passes by quickly and before we know it, our Year 6 students will be off to high school! If you are yet to plan for where your child will be attending high school, I strongly encourage exploring this now. Towards the end of term, our class teachers will begin collecting some initial data on who is attending what high school. This will help us as we look ahead to Semester 2 to plan transition days and activities for our students attending different schools.

Upcoming events in Year 6

From March 11- 13, 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.

Well done to our students who competed in the Cross Country on Friday. It was a hot day and all participants are to be commended for their efforts. Congratulations to Hudson and Cloudia who won the 11 year old boys and girls events, and to Harrison and Jayda who won the 12 year old boys and girls events.

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

Curriculum News

Accelerated Reader

For our Mango Hill students, the AR journey begins at 3.0 and continues until 9.0. For some students, finishing AR (i.e. reaching 9.0) is an important goal. Last week we had two students reach this special goal after many years of commitment and persistence with reading. It means they have successfully read a range of fiction and non-fiction books, and also passed all of the associated quizzes.

Congratulations to Jared and Violet who have reached the top of AR!

I’m sure they will continue to read and quiz, but now they have the joy of choosing books on any levels.

Even though we are more than half way through the term, it is still a good time to set some goals for AR. If you’d like help with this, don’t forget to pop on down to the Hub for a conversation and some support. The Hub is open every day from 8.15am and until 3pm every afternoon. See you soon!

Museum display

This week in the Hub we have a special display from the Qld Museum, highlighting the effects of extreme weather. There is even an example of an emergency kit – prepared for when a flood might be possible. Of course, we all hope we don’t need an emergency kit, but it is interesting to know what we might include! The display will be here for students and families for the next two weeks.