Term 3 Week 5 2024
It’s hard to believe that we are already in Week 5 of Term 3. As a school we have lots to celebrate. Last week selected students attended the Regional Music Workshops and I’ve heard a great time was had by all who attended. We also had a group of students represent our school in the Rugby 7s competition. Both the under 12s and the under 10s were victorious winners of their competition. The under 12s B team narrowly missed out on third place. A huge thank you to Mr McGregor for his efforts and hard work. He was so proud of all students involved. Thank you also to Bessie and parents for their assistance with our teams.
The school values the experience camps provide our senior students however for 2025 we have made the decision to change the way we plan school camps. There are a number of reasons we are making small changes which include; the cost-of-living pressures on families, the number of students not attending camp, the increasing challenge of finding staff as many of our staff have young children, the number of students that struggle with the sheer number of nights away from home and the growing out-of-pocket cost to the school (this year equated to approximately $30, 000). As a school, we value camps and how meaningful they are for our students so we have worked hard to ensure a model is provided that is viable to ensure we can continue to offer these experiences. The 2025 school camp model will include the following.
Year 4 – GROUP 1
Monday 20 – Tuesday 21 October, 2025
Year 4 – GROUP 2
Wednesday 22 – Thursday 23 October, 2025
Year 5 - (GROUP 1)
Monday 4August – Wednesday 6 August, 2025
Year 5 - (GROUP 2)
Wednesday 6 August – Friday 8 August, 2025
Year 6 – (GROUP 1)
Monday 2 June – Wednesday 4June, 2025
Year 6 – (GROUP 2)
Monday 9June to Wednesday 11 June, 2025
We are hoping due to these reduced days we have more students attending.
We wish our Wakakirri Team the very best of luck today as they compete. Students in the Wakakirri Team have been committed and put so much time into rehearsals. Our school thanks them for their dedication. A huge thank you to Ms Kostoglou for her unwavering commitment and the many hours she spends ensuring our performance is one of high quality. Thank you to Mr Vlieg and Mrs Morrell and also to our parents/carers for their assistance and commitment to rehearsal times. Good luck Team Mango.
Date reminders
EKKA – Monday 12 August is a public holiday
Student Free Day – Friday 30 August. Students do not attend school on this day. Helping Hands will be open. Please see their website for bookings.
Ange Padgett
Principal
apadg6@eq.edu.au
Focus of the Week
This week in Care Class we will focus on Care for Self by identifying our emotions for regulation. We will also learn to use the Ready Scale to help us better manage our feelings and some big emotions. Throughout the day your feelings might fluctuate, and it is okay to be at different points on the scale. It is okay to go through all these emotions but it is not okay to let your emotions control you. Always be your best and do your best!
When we Care for Self, we recognise our emotions and use some strategies to self-regulate or we seek help appropriately from adults to co-regulate. Do you have a favourite strategy to help you regulate? Would any of the below strategies help at home with your child?
Bullying No Way!
Please join us on Friday 16 August by showing your support for Bullying No Way National Day of Action by wear a pop of purple with your school uniform. This could be some purple socks or purple hair accessory.
Teachers will be talking to classes about appropriate strategies student can use if they feel they are being bullied or are bystanders.
Olympic Themed Learning
For the last couple of weeks our Prep learners have been enjoying some Olympic themed learning. Prep G have been checking the medal tally and using counting strategies to total them each day. They have also been using the Olympics as the context for some learning of positional language. Last week Prep G enjoyed ‘Potato Olympics' using a potato athlete and some fun events like throwing and rolling. The students then had to place their potato on an Olympic scene and describe the position, for example, the potato is in front of the net, under the hoop, between the goal posts and so on. They then used their iPads and the Book Creator app to make a book including voice recordings for each picture. What a fun way to learn and practise using positional language – way to go Prep G!
Raw Art
This week Prep learners have been creating masterpieces for you to enjoy at the Art Fest towards the end of term. Prep S did a wonderful job and had a lot of fun in the process! We can’t wait to see you at the Art Fest on Thursday 5 September to enjoy all the amazing art work going on in Prep and across the whole school!
Mieke Munko
Deputy Principal-Prep
mmunk1@eq.edu.au
Problem Solving
In the playground we are working to know the difference between problems we try to solve ourselves and problems where we need a grown up to help us. So often, our little ones jump straight to “dobbing” or going straight to a grown up, for something minor.
And if the adult always jumps in, it robs our little people of the opportunity to practise those skills of problem solving minor conflict situations.
Let’s face it - conflict is part of life. We don’t get along with everyone, all the time!
Some of our little people may have what we would call a “skills gap”. They might need to practise these skills of resolution more than other little people. One way you could help your child is by allowing them to try to solve things themselves first, either with siblings or with cousins or with friends.
Role playing on the way to a park or a play date or on the way home, is a good way to unpack “what we could do” when faced with a problem.
Overtly sharing something that you’ve solved (or made up to solve!) can work too. “At work today, I had to decide whether to say something to this rude work colleague or walk away. What do you think I should have done?”
Something our little people can do when they aren’t confident with something, is they might hold onto the negative thought. We might hear “Sam always does this to me,” when it’s actually happened once, we just weren’t sure about how we handled it and now we’ve held onto it.
It’s important to help our little people with their perspective. Is this a big problem or a little problem? (Google catastrophe scale for resources to help this). Is this something to break a friendship over? All of us make mistakes - our friends included and us included! Can we reflect on our part in the situation? (Side note, there’s always two perspectives and when six year olds are involved, there’s often several different more perspectives when they change their minds about what happened!).
So, if your child arrives home with all the problems of their little world resting on their shoulders, listen with a very open mind, provide snacks and exercise, and help your child to reframe their thinking. Only ever use open ended questions - tell me about… and allow them the opportunity to have a go at solving minor squabbles.
I heard the best answer from a Year 1 student in 1C last week, when I asked him what he does if there’s a playground argument.
He said, “Oh when me and him argue, we just walk away from each other. We just give each other some space. And then we can be friends again.”
Such cleverness! Completely unprompted! If only we all knew when to walk away and give ourselves and our friends the space we need?!
Melinda White
Deputy Principal- Year 1
mwhit37@eq.edu.au
Stepping Inside History in Year 2
This term the students in Year 2 have been investigating aspects of the past and exploring how some of these can still be seen today in their HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) lessons. In particular, they have been looking at changes in technology over time.
Last week, the students in Year 2 engaged in the Stepping Inside History incursion to help them better understand life in the past. At this incursion students got to:
- experience old phones and appliances;
- dress up in old clothes;
- learn to use nib pens and ink;
- try a typewriter and a slate;
- wash with a washboard;
- make butter and juice; and
- play with old toys.
Check out these students from 2L and 2F enjoying their time at the incursion.
A big thank you to all the parents and carers who volunteered their time to support with this incursion.
Kylie Vaughan
Deputy Principal- Year 2
kvaug3@eq.edu.au
Book Week Parade
Friday 23 August (Week 7) we are holding our highly anticipated Book Week Parade. This year’s book week theme is ‘Reading is Magic’. We know the significance reading plays in our world and would love to see students dressed up to celebrate their love of reading. As always, sun safe and school appropriate costumes are required.
Jumpers and Hats
With the cooler weather set in, it’s a great time to check your child’s school bag to ensure their jumper is still there. Our lost property box outside the hub is growing. We would love to see all our students wearing their jumper and hat to and from school to stay safe and warm.
Playtime in Term 3
This term we are continuing with our fantastic lunch time play clubs, both indoors and outdoors. All students are welcome to attend clubs and participate in the fun. In less structured settings, it is more difficult for our students to navigate conflict. This term we have continued to learn about the High 5. (Talk Friendly, Talk Firmly, Ignore, Walk Away, Report) At home, you too can model this strategy. This could be done through role play, a conversation in the car or even unpacking the situation in the moment. A great skill that often goes unnoticed is how to respond when someone is attempting to use the High 5 on you.
Care Class
This week, our students are reviewing how to show Care for Environment by reflecting on what they can do to protect our school environment. They are also looking at the value of innovation as they value trying new things and having a go. In the classroom, teachers have been teaching students about finding clever, creative ways of learning and working to show the value of innovation.
Engaging Safely Online
It has come to our attention that there are a growing number of Messenger concerns occurring online and out of school hours that are coming into the school environment and are impacting some members of our Year 4 cohort. Many of our students are regularly engaging online with peers and others through games, messages and social media. We highly recommend parents to continue to monitor their children's use of their devices and how they interact with them.
For helpful resources for parents regarding online safety, check out the eSafety commissioner website: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents and further resources on https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/resources-tab/parents-and-carers.
We will continue education in the classroom about engaging safely and responsibly online.
Danielle O'Brien
Deputy Principal- Year 4
dxobr0@eq.edu.au
Hello Year 5 families. Another great week of learning at Mango Hill State School
Academic Achievement
This week students have continued working on their Shared Reading task. This task focusses on comprehending a narrative poem, sharing an opinion of a character at a particular point in time. Part of this task involves students being able to explain how text structures assist in understanding the text, understanding how language features and vocabulary influence interpretations of characters and describing how characters in texts are depicted.
In 5F students were working on what they SEE, HEAR and Feel
Wellbeing
This week most Year 5 classes conducted the School Opinion Survey. The School Opinion Survey is a departmental tool we use to help us understand what students identify as the positives in the school and also areas they believe we can improve.
This information is triangulated against multiple data sources including academic achievement, wellbeing surveys, wellbeing walks and talks and behavioural data sets.
This information helps teachers develop class wellbeing plans which are aimed to support students to follow routines and school wide expectations to enhance learning outcomes.
Attendance
Thank you for continuing to support your children to have positive attendance. Over the course of the year, students should be aiming for an attendance rate well above 90%. If your child is below this figure, please contact your class teacher or myself to discuss how we can positively support attendance. School attendance rates are a key indicator of children’s wellbeing.
Greg McCallum
Deputy Principal- Year 5
gmcca24@eq.edu.au
6C Passion Projects
Earlier this week, I was delighted to receive an invitation to visit 6C’s Passion Project showcase. Students in 6C have been working hard over a period of time on projects of particular interest to them. On Monday, they had the opportunity to present these to their peers and parents. It was wonderful seeing the range of topics that students explored in depth including gamma radiation, climate change, dinosaurs and beta particles. I look forward to seeing what the 6C students delve into next!
Presenting slam poetry
Students across the Year 6 have spent the past few days presenting their slam poetry. I pooped into some rooms while they were being filmed in preparation for peer feedback. It was fantastic to see students making careful decisions about how they present their poems clearly and confidently.
Graduation fundraising
Every year at the Arts Fest, the Year 6 Graduation Committee have the opportunity to raise money for Year 6 Graduation by running the BBQ, selling baked goods and doing a raffle ticket draw. Thank you so much to those of you who run or are connected to businesses who have donated prizes for the raffle. This is greatly appreciated.
Yesterday I sent an email to all Year 6 parents and carers requesting volunteer support for Arts Fest. I appreciate everyone who has responded to this call out for support and we are still after more. If you are willing and able volunteer at Arts Fest or support by providing baked goods for the bake sale, pleas email me at bxmil3@eq.edu.au . I will be in touch with all who have offered their time, soon.
We will also be running a silent auction on the night. We are after a few more art pieces for this. If you’re an artist or you know of a local artist who would like to donate an artwork for the silent auction, please let me know.
Interschool Sport
Congratulations to our students on representing Team Mango so well at their respective sports last Friday. We have continued to achieve some great results. Our 2nd Interschool Sports day for the term is this Friday. I’m sure our Year 6 students will continue to show the Mango Hill values of Teamwork and Respect while competing.
Ben Mills
Deputy Principal –Year 6
bxmil3@eq.edu.au
Accelerated Reader
Congratulations to Nicola how this week reached her goal of 2 million words. She has been working so hard for the whole term to reach this special goal. Well done Nicola!
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Time is running out… if you have not yet started on the PRC for 2024 now is the time! All completed PRC forms should be returned to the Hub by 24 August.
Book Week
Another exciting part of our Book Week celebrations will be our special Book Week competition. All students from Prep to Year 6 are welcome to enter and there will be some fabulous prizes on offer!
Museum display
This week in the Hub we have some items on loan from the Qld Museum, reminding us of how things have changed. Do you remember getting your news from a wireless or from a mini television set? Pop on down to have a look and see some other relics from the past!
Have a fantastic week
Suzette Holm, Jessica Rivett
shol0@eq.edu.au
jxqui5@eq.edu.au
Uniform Shop
Our regular uniform shop hours during the term are as follows.
Monday - 8:00 am-10:30 am
Wednesday - 1:30 pm-4:00 pm
Thursday - 1:30 pm-4:00 pm
Friday - 8:00 am-10:30 am
The uniform shop will be closed on Monday 12 August 2024 with the Ekka Show holiday. We will re-open at our usual time on Wednesday afternoon, 1:30pm-4pm.
P & C Update
Could you spare just one hour on Monday 26 August or Tuesday 27 August 2024?
The P & C are looking for parent volunteers to assist on the Fathers Day Stall.
It's easy and fun and a great way to meet new parents.
If you are able to help, please email vicepresident@mhsspandc.com.au