3 March 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Note

Welcome to week 6 of Term 1. The focus of the last week or so for staff and students has been on assessment with many classes busily finalising preparation for these important indicators of student progress. It has been very pleasing to note the number of students ensuring they are ready through high levels of engagement in the class room as well as seeking additional support opportunities such as our Homework Club which runs on Thursday afternoons.

In the last newsletter I highlighted our “Charleville SHS Top 5 Practices” and their role in providing consistency as one of the key support strategies for student learning outcomes. Another top practice we are focussing on is the use of Learning Walls. This is a strategy that uses the learning environment as a “3rd Teacher”, enabling a highly visible space that students can use to guide their learning and develop self-sufficiency in problem solving. Examples of elements that make up a Learning Wall include vocabulary lists, student work, assessment items and exemplars (“A” and “C” standards), cognitive verbs, etc.

Classroom Learning Walls

Recently I heard of a student in one class being asked a question to which she replied “is it cheating to use the Learning Wall?” The teacher assured her that this was a great way to help answer questions which she proceeded to do. Not only did this example bring a big smile to my face it also goes to the heart of what we are aiming to achieve, informed students who are capable of finding solutions.

Our Top 5 practices to support student learning are:

1. Learning Objectives and Success Criteria
2. Learning Walls
3. Positive Behaviour for Learning
4. Directed Reading and Thinking Activities
5. Essential Skills in Classroom Management

Learning Walk Throughs in Week 6

In week 6 we will be conducting walk-throughs to observe student learning and collect general feedback on our progress with the school strategic priorities including the Charleville top 5 and Positive Behaviour for Learning. This information is collated on a de-identified basis to provide meaningful feedback regarding our improvement journey and has been an ongoing process commencing in 2020.

The indicators across this time absolutely support our ongoing commitment to improvement with clear examples evident of key priorities. For example, the last survey indicated that Learning Objectives were visible in 87% of class rooms, Success Criteria evident in 76% of lessons and Learning Walls available in 71% of classes. These percentages represent significant growth across the year, in some cases nearly doubling, as staff have worked hard to incorporate the success strategies we have designed.

The Leadership Team and I look forward to collecting the first round of information during week 6 and sharing with the staff to continue our process of reflection regarding key initiatives. I remain very proud of the efforts of staff and students as we share this journey.

12 Month visit for our School Review

On Tuesday March 16 (Week 8), the review team (Stephen Bobby and Vicki Caldow – Education Improvement Branch and Reid Thompson – Assistant Regional Director) will visit the school for our 12 month check in. During the day they will meet with virtually all staff and a number of students and parents to collect feedback on our progress since the Term 1 School Review in 2020. The team then provides a formal report on their findings which I anticipate receiving early in Term 2 and will then share with the school community.

I am very confident, given previous feedback from the 3, 6 and 9 month visits, that we will receive positive feedback and also some very targeted suggestions on how to continue moving forward to improve student learning outcomes.

Parent voice

The P&C Annual General Meeting, followed by a general meeting, will be held on Wednesday the 10th of March at the school Administration block, starting at 5.00pm. This group is a vital aspect of our school community and provides essential feedback to myself and the school so please come along to some of these meetings so we can hear as many voices as possible.

In closing

As a Principal I believe strongly in “Know my school” and “Know my community.” One of my favourite things to do is to be out in the grounds for break times every day and this is one of the best forms of feedback I can get; talking to our students, your children, every day. I am so very proud of the young people who make up our school and take great delight in watching them develop into young adults.

The current student leadership team is a fantastic example of this. Their commitment to the school and providing student voice is inspiring and our ARD (Reid Thompson) was incredibly impressed when he met Senior Student Leadership members recently.

Through moments like this, others get to know our school community and appreciate the many positives it encompasses. Your role as parents is such an important one and I thank you for the continued support that you provide.

All the best,

Barry Wallett

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL JUNIOR SCHOOLING AND STUDENT SERVICES NEWS

WELCOME TO WEEK 6

JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS

As we enter the second half of Term 1 we are finding that our students are beginning to enter the assessment stage of the term. A Junior School assessment calendar has been given to all students in years 7 to 9. The Calendar has also been emailed to all parents and uploaded on our school website. I encourage all parents to access a copy of this calendar and assist their students in planning and organising the extra time they may need to study or complete assignments. The Homework Club is a great opportunity for students to receive extra help from their teachers. The students merely need to ask their teacher the day before if they would help them at Homework Club. If the classroom teacher cannot be available then there is always another staff member only too willing to assist.

STUDENTS WITH MEDICAL NEEDS

A reminder to parents/carers to notify the school about your child’s health. Students with ongoing medical needs should have an ACTION PLAN (eg asthma and anaphylaxis) supplied to the school.

SWD STUDENTS

SWD students will have received contact from their 2021 case manager. If you have not received contact, please notify the school. Individualised Learning Plans are currently being updated and Parents who have children placed on an ICP will need to come to the school for a formal interview.

MOBILE PHONES and SOCIAL MEDIA

We have had a very positive and supportive response from the community regarding the Charleville SHS mobile phone policy. Year seven, eight and nine students are not allowed to have a phone at school. Years 10 to 12 students are allowed to have a phone in their possession but not use it in school hours. Almost all students have been very responsible and have not used their phones in school hours. Those students who use their phone irresponsibly are required to hand the phone into the office. A parent will be contacted and must make arrangements to collect the phone.

There have been the occasional situation where a student needs to use their phone (contact employer etc). They ask permission from a teacher and within sight of the teacher uses the phone. The same situation applies on school events off campus. A Teacher may give permission for a student to use their phone within the teacher’s supervision (eg music on the bus). Strictly no social media is allowed.

In the past, the inappropriate use of a mobile phones was often reported to the school, however the majority of times the mobile phone is used outside of school hours. Please carefully consider your young persons’ best interest and the amount of time they use digital media. I urge all parents to know what your student has stored on their phone, what they receive and what they send.

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests were first implemented in May 2008 when national tests were held in literacy and numeracy for all students in Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

These tests replaced the previous State and Territory-based assessments and have the support of all Education Ministers.

NAPLAN is a diagnostic tool which Charleville State High School uses to analyse the programs we implement at school. Whilst the parents of individual students are given reports, the school uses the data from the entire cohort. It is a valuable tool which benefits the students.

Purpose of the tests

The NAPLAN tests are designed to assess the skills of Australian students in literacy and numeracy. The specific purposes are:

• to collect data from the population of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students for reporting to parents/carers and schools for systematic reporting
• to accommodate the assessment of students against national minimum standards.

What is tested?

A series of tests will assess areas of literacy and numeracy. The following areas of literacy are assessed:

• Language conventions - spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Writing - knowledge and control of written language
• Reading - comprehension.

As in other years, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be required to respond to a stimulus in the NAPLAN Writing test.

In numeracy, the content areas assessed are:

• Number and algebra
• Measurement and geometry
• Statistics and probability

Results from the tests will provide important information about children's progress in literacy and numeracy. Following the tests, schools and students will receive a statement of performance in relation to the national minimum standards.

Format of the tests

The program is conducted over 3 days in early May. For Years 7 and 9 there will be 4 tests: Language Conventions, Writing, Reading, Numeracy (calculator and non-calculator test items).

For the Writing test, students will be given a stimulus and asked to write a response to the task in a maximum of three pages.

The response formats for questions on all other test papers will be either multiple choice (shade a bubble to indicate the answer) or constructed response (write the answer in a box or on a line). Online test items may also include other response types such as hotspot and drag and drop items. Charleville State High School will be conducting the NAPLAN tests online in 2021.

Eligibility to sit the tests

All eligible students in Years 3, 5, 7 or Year 9 enrolled at State, Catholic or Independent schools must sit the tests unless they are exempt or withdrawn by parents/carers.

More information

Information about the tests for parents and schools is available on the NAPLAN website.

Until next time,

Narelle Webb
Deputy Principal

Student Absences

If your student is absent for any reason please contact the school.

You can contact us in the following ways:

Phone: 4656 8888
Text: 0428 220 673
Email: admin@charlevilleshs.eq.edu.au

HOD Senior Schooling

Year 10 and 11 Parent Pathways Information Evening

Last Tuesday, we welcomed parents from our year 10 and 11 cohorts into the school for a Pathways Information Evening. Thank you to those parents who joined us, it was great discussing the many opportunities for our senior students and the multiple pathway options including ATAR, QCIA and VET available at Charleville State High School during senior studies. If you were unable to attend the evening and have any questions relating to senior pathways, please make contact with me and I am happy to assist – email: sxand9@eq.edu.au. .

Year 10 SET Plan Meetings

Over the next week, year 10 parents/carers will be contacted by a SET Plan teacher mentor to book in for a SET Plan meeting with their student during weeks 7 and 8 of this term.

The SET Plan (Student Education and Training Plan) meeting is conducted across the state with all year 10 students and parents and a mentor teacher to develop an individualised learning plan that best suits the students’ future pathway.

Developing a SET Plan will help students:

• think about education, training and career goals after Year 12
• structure your learning in Years 11 and 12 around your abilities, interests and ambitions
• decide which learning options you should choose to achieve your learning, further education and training, and career goals.

To help support the initial process of the SET Plan meeting, year 10 students will receive a copy of the Senior Subject Selection Handbook this Friday. The handbook has a range of information relating to potential senior subjects on offer in years 11 and 12 in 2021. If students are aspiring towards a vocational pathway, they will be emailed a digital copy of the VET Handbook also on Friday. Hardcopies will also be available and student are encouraged to come see me in B Block Staffroom or via email to obtain a hardcopy.

Please encourage your child to discuss their future aspirations for not only year 11 and 12 subject selection with you but also their future job and study goals. This can be facilitated using the Subject Selection Handbook as well as initiating conversations at home to start a dialogue on future pathways. Some questions to ask your child could include:

• What are your career goals for the future?
• Which subjects are you good at?
• Which subjects do you like?
• Do you want to continue studying after Year 12?
• Are there prerequisite (compulsory) subjects that you must complete in high school to be eligible for the course you may interested in at university?
• Are there special entry requirements?
• Is it a Vocational (VET) pathway that you will need to complete that will get you to your dream job? If so, can this be started while in high school?
• Do you want to complete school to year 12 or is there employment you wish to start instead?

Year 11 SET Plan Review

This week, parents in year 11 will also be contacted by a SET Plan teacher mentor to make an appointment to meet and review with their student the SET Plan completed last year in year 10. This meeting is integral to the SET Plan process to ensure students are on track to both obtain their QCE at the end of year 12 as well as make adjustments to their learning plan if they have decided to change their future pathways.

Your teacher mentor will be in Contact with you either via phone or email to arrange this meeting so please keep an eye out for this.

As a senior team, we would like to thank you as parents/carers for your commitment to your child’s learning and look forward to meeting with you over the next couple of weeks.

If I can support you and your student in any way in regards to senior pathways, I am more than happy to assist and encourage you to make contact with me.

Stefanie Andriolo
HOD Senior Schooling

PBL Focus: Week 6 & 7

This fortnight, PBL will focus on developing their resilience, with a focus on persevering to overcome challenges. It is that time of the term again and with assessment being handed out in the near future, students will be learning ways that they can work towards being successful for their assessment. Some strategies that the year 9’s suggested were asking for help from teachers, parents/family and caregivers, peers. Checking in when missing work, not giving up and trying your hardest. These are some awesome strategies that they will be using going forward!

Keep up the great work year 9!

Year 7’s we’re using their assessment calendars and their diaries to help them prepare and face the new challenge of assessment for this term! This is fantastic to see! Here are some photos of the year 7’s!

Yr 7’s working on their Strategies

Murweh Youth Council

On Wednesday 24/2/2021 we held the first Murweh Youth Council (MYC) meeting of the year. Mayor Radnedge provided us with an update of Murweh Shire events including the upcoming 31 year reunion of the 1990 flood, with celebrations including an open mic night, free movie, band (Open Season), head of the river canoe races and much more. The Mayor also delivered some exciting news about the new water park in Charleville which will be ready around September this year. The MYC is especially excited to see the water park occur from suggestions made at a 2019 Youth Council Meeting by Laine Dennis (who is now our MYC Treasurer). This year’s committee is working on a survey and fundraising ideas to encourage more young people in our community to have their say about what they would like to see happening in our town. Thank you as always to Jenny Peacock from the HOPE Program for coordinating our meetings, and also to Mayor Radnedge for his time. The next meeting will be held on 19th May 2021.

Tahlia Stewart, Media Officer

The Murweh Youth Council members

Council members in action

National Day of Action against Bullying & Violence

What’s going on in the teenage brain?

Is your teenager moody and not listening to you? Neuroscience educator, Nathan Wallis, explains what is going on in the teenage brain and how you can help your teen engage with school and learning. Visit the Spark their Future website.

Women’s Day Breakfast

At Healthy Ageing on Monday 8th March to celebrate Qld Women’s Week.

The focus is on women’s health and there will be information regarding our local South West Hospital & Health Services.

There will be two seatings: 7am–8am and 8am–9am and seating is limited so please RSVP to Healthy Ageing or email Jennifer.peacock@health.qld.gov.au

Encourage your female family members and friends to attend.

Jennifer Peacock
Community Program Officer
HOPE Program