91 Gore Street, Murgon QLD 4605 T: (07) 4169 8333 F: (07) 4169 8300 E: principal@murgonss.eq.edu.au Murgon State School www.murgonss.eq.edu.au

Murgon State School acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Wakka Wakka people, of the country on which the school is located and pays respect to their Elders past and present.

Principal’s Message

Diary Dates:

Wunjuada, Welcome! Term 1, Week 3 • 14 February 2020

“Every day in every classroom every student is learning”

Explicit InstructionExplicit Instruction is the signature pedagogical approach to teaching and learning at Murgon State School. The first 2 books shown below are the evidence based approach used at MSS in 2020 for school improvement and the 3rd book is our signature pedagogy used in all classes.

“Consistent and explicit teaching of Modelled and Shared Reading using a whole school approach”

2020 Sharp and Narrow

At least 12 months growth for one year’s schooling

Day 13 Enrolment Collection Day 13 (usually day 8) marks an important date for schools across Queensland. The enrolment numbers for schools on this date impact the overall funding each school receives for the 2020 school year. These numbers can also impact class sizes and staffing. Whilst all care is made to minimise any impacts on staffing and classes sometimes changes are necessary. In the result of any changes occurring, students will receive a letter to take home to inform parents. At this stage we do not anticipate any changes having to occur at Murgon SS.

Welcome to Mr Dale Warren This week we welcomed Mr Dale Warren to the Murgon team. Mr Warren will assume the role of Head of Special Education Services for the remainder of 2020. Mr Warren comes to us with a wealth of experiences in schools internationally as well as schools within the Darling Downs. Mr Warren will be easy to spot with his wide range of Hawaiian shirts whilst walking around our school grounds. Please ensure you say hi and welcome him into our wider community.

Clarification of processes for Parent Communications to Teachers and Staff At Murgon SS we are striving to improve communication between school and home. The purpose of this information is to serve as a general guide for ensuring effective communication from parents to teachers, staff and administrators. Communication refers to both the sending and receiving of information, such as email and notes, and verbal communications such as telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings. In order to ensure a successful exchange of information, it is important that all parties understand and respect the following protocols.

Maintain Respectful and Open Communication • Always use a respectful and polite tone • Request, don’t demand • Be ready not just to provide information, but to listen to teacher/staff

observations and perspectives • Enter the exchange with an open mind and assume a shared best

interest for your child• Be prepared to work collaboratively to solve problems

Confidentiality• Recognise that confidentiality may limit information that can be shared

from school to parents, including consequences for other students’ behaviors

Above: Students exploring patterns in Visual Arts in 4/5 R

(Continued over)

TERM 1 Week 5: Friday 28 February Badge Ceremony Special Parade 2:30pm

Week 10: Cross Country

Friday 3 April Last day Term 1

Badge Ceremony Please note change of date: Friday 28th February will be the official Badge Ceremony. Special Parade to start at 2.30pm. All parents and community members are welcome to attend. Badges will be presented to School Captains, Vice Captains, House Captains and Earlyact Executive members.

Deputy Principal’s Message

Principal’s Message (continued)

Connect with us

Homework Club

Friday is School Banking Day

Murgon State School

Homework club runs each morning from 8:00 to 8:30am.

Homework club is now for any and all students from Prep to Year 6.

If you would like your child to become a Student Banker please call into the local Commonwealth Bank and start up an account for them.

OU

R S

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OO

L P

RIO

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IES: At Murgon State

School we expect:

✓ Attendance – our target is for 95% student attendance

✓ Reading – our target is for all students to meet the Regional Benchmarks in reading

✓ Explicit Teaching – 100% of classroom teachers implementing the Explicit Instruction Pedagogy.

Murgon State School implements Spelling Mastery. Spelling Mastery is a whole school approach to the teaching of Spelling. It can help teach students the strategies they need to become successful, life-long spellers. It uses a combined approach of phonemic, morphemic and whole-world strategies. Spelling Mastery helps students to understand the relationship between sounds, word parts and spelling patterns. Students are taught in small steps, using sufficient practice, so that they comprehend how spelling works and can become proficient writers. Children are being taught how to spell to reduce the number of words they must memorise. Upon entry to the program children complete a placement test. This test identifies at which level children begin in the program. This aims to ensure that children are working at an instructional level and are able to master each stage before moving on. Spelling Mastery is a sequential program and most children will follow through the levels from Phonemic

Awareness to Level F. Helping your child weekly with their Spelling Mastery homework, helps them to understand the importance of the skills that they are achieving.

Mrs Heather Litzow, Acting Deputy Principal

My name is Bond, James Bond!! Sorry, only kidding!!! Actually it’s Dale Warren, a Golden Oldie I am. Three citizenships, namely Australian, New Zealand and South Africa although I have a notion I’ve been disowned by the South African Government.I’ve taught in all of the above mentioned places as a Teacher, HOD and Principal for approximately 40 years. The last 16 years I spent at Kingaroy SHS as a SEP Teacher and Acting HOSES for just over 2 years.I’m a keen sportsperson, especially soccer which I unfortunately had to retire from due to old age

(hahahaha…) and at the moment only participate in the Kingaroy Social Tennis Competition.I’m married with two children; one’s still at home while my daughter is married and lives in Melbourne.Mr Dale Warren, Head of Inclusive Services

Inclusive Services

Time to Respond to Communications• Teachers will make every effort to respond as soon as possible to parent communications, with

the understanding that the teaching day sometimes precludes immediate responses• Teachers and staff may need some time to collect needed information before responding

Whom to Contact• Most communications of classroom and playground concerns should be directed at first to your

child’s teacher• If you have an issue with a particular staff member, first try to address those concerns with that

staff member directly• If you have discussed with your child’s teacher and the issue has not been addressed to your

satisfaction then speak with the administration staff about booking an appointment with the Deputy Principal or Principal.

Please understand the value of these protocols and that we operate with openness, collaboration and the shared best interest for every student. Thank you.

Aaron Jones, Principal

Be Respectful , Be Safe, Be a LearnerNewsletter 14 February 2020 • Page 2

Murgon State School

Prep DParents and carers of the ever wonderful Prep D, We are most certainly blooming with knowledge in our room. Our literacy rotations have begun and are happening every morning. During this time the students are being exposed to the letters of the alphabet in a particular sequence which aligns with our High Frequency program and PM reading program. We have learnt the letters Aa / Mm / Tt / Ss and can already make many words. Each student has their own phonics scrapbook full of letter activities and craft. The students are enjoying our unit based on the book “I’m the biggest thing in the ocean”. Ask them to tell you all about the giant squids’ feelings.

We are already seeing progress with our high frequency word program with many students reading the first set of words. Thank you to all you wonderful parents who are supporting this learning at home Homework is off to a flying start with all students

Prep / 1 KThis week in Prep/1K we have had a celebrity visiting Teacher Ms Adams, teaching with Ms Jeddah. We have been focusing on revising our great learning from last year and establishing our school routines and

goals for our new Preps. We are excited to continue learning with Ms Adams for the rest of the week. The Year 1 students have enjoyed their first week of Spelling Mastery, and have enjoyed sharing their new skills with the entire class.

Miss Jamie Kibblewhite

Literacy LeaderReading with your child at home will help your child in all learning areas of school. Children see reading and writing in everyday life - reading for pleasure, sharing a story, using a recipe, making a shopping list, reading street signs and writing a birthday card. This teaches them that reading and

writing are useful skills in today’s world. By reading aloud with your child at home this will encourage them to enjoy books and reading. Before reading talk about the cover, the title, the pictures and discuss what the book may be about. During reading stop and ask questions about what’s happening in the story and try to predict what may happen next. Most importantly enjoy the experience, reading should be fun!Mrs Leanne Gilmour, Literacy Leader

This fortnight has been a busy one. In English, students are reading and deconstructing the novel ‘Handa’s Surprise’. Students have already analysed capital letters, full stops, long vowels and word families in our Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation lessons. In our reading groups, we have been focusing on 5 finger retells, predicting, sight word playdough making and Reading Eggs on our classroom laptops.

In Mathematics, we have been looking at whole numbers, counting to and from 100. We have been busy perfecting our number technique and playing hopscotch practicing our counting.

Miss Madison Mobbs

1 M

remembering to bring in their blue folder everyday! Please see myself or Kylie for any questions regarding homework. In Maths we are focussing on numbers 1-10. Learning the name of the number, the word to match the number and we are exploring what the amount looks like with lots of hands-on activities. Our other subjects include HASS where we are learning about ‘special places’. We will discuss maps, features of places, and more. Our special place that our assessment will be based on will be our classroom. Design and Technology – we are looking at fresh produce and healthy eating. We will explore life on a farm. Prep D students have settled really well and we are all really proud to have been awarded class of the week AND FORTNIGHT for attendance! Looking forward to the weeks ahead.Nardia de Bruyn & Kylie Cooper

Be Respectful , Be Safe, Be a LearnerNewsletter 14 February 2020 • Page 3

Murgon State School

2 M

This fortnight the students of 4B have been settling in with our daily and weekly routines. Our favourite part of the day is ‘Speedy Maths’ where the students complete as many addition sums as they can in three minutes! The students have been enjoying studying ‘The Twits’, examining the unique language that Roald Dahl uses and the horrible tricks The Twits play on each other. In Art we are studying a unit called ‘Tiny Worlds’. We discussed what a tiny world could be and then designed our very own interpretation of a tiny world.

Miss Sam Bouveng

4 B3 K

Hello, my name is Mrs Castillo, I’m a third-year pre-service teacher. I have been in Year 2 with Mrs Mollenhauer for the first 3 weeks of school this year. It has been a wonderful experience to watch the brave Year 2 students come into class and start the new year with such enthusiasm. I have loved every opportunity I have been given to teach them. Having built a relationship with them as an “assistant class teacher” has been a privilege and I am sad to be leaving but so honoured to have shared such a wonderful time with them. All the best in Year 2 and thank you Mrs Mollenhauer for your patience, kindness and generosity. To Mr

Jones and all of Murgon State School, thank you for your warm welcome.

Mrs Susan Mollenhauer & Mrs Carol Castillo

This year we are upping the ante with our strive words. Strive is a chance for us to learn some less common words that are used in everyday speech. These are words that people often use but are not understood by students. This year so far we have already learnt 10 words ranging from ‘duty’ to ‘deafening’. Today we came up with our own sentences using the word ‘puzzled’ which were quite amusing. A standout sentence

was ‘I had to stop and think during the test because I was becoming puzzled’. I can’t wait to see what we come up with throughout the rest of the year.

Mr Harry Sinclair

2/3 BJust like that, we are three weeks into the school year already. All members of 2/3B have been settling in nicely and are becoming more aware of routines and expectations. We began our Zones of Regulations lessons this week, introducing the emotions we feel in the Green Zone. We will spend the year identifying and categorising emotions in all of the zones; blue, green, yellow and red, and how we can regulate our responses.

Homework began last week. Please remind your child to bring their folder to school each day to be eligible for Vivos and homework treaty on Friday. Homework Club is in the Library each morning if your child requires assistance to complete any tasks. Miss Kayla Bellingham

Be Respectful , Be Safe, Be a LearnerNewsletter 14 February 2020 • Page 4

Murgon State School

‘The Father of Federation’, Sir Henry Parkes, is the topic of conversation in recent HASS (History) lessons. We have viewed documentaries about his life and created a timeline of important, key events that led to Australia’s Federation. Students have researched the reasons why Parkes advocated for a united Australia and what life was like at the end of the 19th century. We have looked at political cartoons from that era used to persuade the public and read about the importance of key

conventions held at the time. Students will work in groups to write an argument about the individuals and key events that contributed to development of Australia as a nation.

Mrs Tracy Flavel

6 K

6 F

Who knew that our school was full of so many patterns? Our Visual Arts unit this term focuses on patterns in the playground. In this unit, students will explore the pattern, texture and shape of their local environment. They will make, display and discuss their own and others’ artworks. Last week, the students explored the school looking for patterns. We found so many. We then came back to the classroom and created our own patterns. This week we welcomed Dorothy to Murgon

State School and to our classroom.

Congratulations to the following ABC award recipients:

Term 1, Week 1: Claire Bright Term 1, Week 2: Taelyn Waldock

What zone are you in? Throughout the year we are going to be learning all about emotions and self-regulation. Learning about our emotions is just as important as learning our times tables and how to spell. It helps us relate to our friends and peers, as well as helping us understand our own behaviour. So far we have looked at what each zone includes, discuss times we have felt particular emotions and how we look when we

are feeling certain emotions. Can you guess which emotions we are feeling in these pictures?

In English, students have been learning about World War I and World War II in order to gain a better understanding about two narratives we have been reading. As their English Assessment will be focusing on comparing and contrasting, students were tasked to practise this and compared and contrasted

both wars. They learnt lots of interesting information regarding how the wars started, when they started, who was involved and so forth. Did you know, over 12 million letters were delivered to soldiers during WWI?

5 S

4/5 R

Mrs Sarah Sinclair

Miss Teilha Keehn

Mrs Sarah Ridder

Be Respectful , Be Safe, Be a LearnerNewsletter 14 February 2020 • Page 5

Murgon State School

It’s been a flying start to 2020 especially for the Year 6 students. We are focussing on a wide range of fitness activities to kick off the year and last week the students completed the famed ‘Beep Test’ as part of this unit of work. The test is a commonly used aerobic fitness test and individual results recorded will be used as a benchmark for comparison of fitness level at the start and finish of the unit. On what was a very humid day the students participated well, and I enjoyed the opportunity to join in with them and felt their pain! I look forward to sharing their progress down the track.

What a busy term for South Burnett District sporting activities. The dates below give you an overview of the trials coming up:

February 25th Softball and AFL

March 11th Basketball and Touch

March 17th Girls Rugby League

March 20th Boys Rugby League, Netball and Tennis

The wet weather is impacting our ability to conduct our own school trials to select representatives to attend the above trials, but these will be organised and held as soon as possible for those students interested in participating in Softball and AFL.

DATE CLAIMER

Week 10 - Annual School Cross Country Run

Get in the game!

Until next time

Mr Dean Searles

HPE

Lunchtime activities have really taken off this week with the wet weather.

Students from a range of year levels have been spending wet play times

using laptops to access the Internet, building Lego projects and using

recycled materials to construct their own creations. Science classes

have been very busy as students delve deeper into their respective areas

of study with the Earth and Space focus generating many interesting

questions.

Digital Technologies lessons across all year levels have been firmly focussed

on reviewing prior knowledge of digital systems, information systems

and using systems thinking to solve real world problems. Students in the

upper years have been applying their digital technologies understanding to

their Science studies.

Ms Carmen Godbaz

From the STEM Centre

Be Respectful , Be Safe, Be a LearnerNewsletter 14 February 2020 • Page 6

Murgon State School

School Attendance and Community Connect Officer Wow, what a fortnight we have had with all students being back on board and in classrooms learning, achieving and setting goals for the new school year. We have also had some challenging weather seeing us through our school days with some hot and humid days to windy, overcast and rainy days. This has seen the return of school jumpers and tracksuit pants being left at school again. It is very important to have these items clearly marked if you would like them returned.

Week 1 & 2 Classroom Attendance

Congratulations to Mrs D and Prep D for winning our first class of the fortnight for 2020.

Please keep an eye out for our very own Murgon State School ‘Come to School’ book. This will be sent home with students over the coming weeks.

Mrs Tanya Webber

Earlyact What a big week is ahead of us. This week saw us experience our first meeting for the 2020 Earlyact year. At our meeting, we discussed the four executive positions (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer), and the expectations of each of those roles. Election speeches were also discussed. Any member of Earlyact is able to nominate for an executive position. Next week, in Week 4, we will hold our elections at our meeting on Tuesday, so that our four executive members are chosen in preparation for the school Badge Ceremony on the Friday.

From Week 4 forward, until the end of the year, our meetings will become fortnightly, on every even week. The events calendar below will help you to know what’s going on in Earlyact!

Judith Wessling, Earlyact

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Murgon State School

Community Notices

JOB OPPORTUNITY Cherbourg State School is seeking a Business Manager (A04). To apply please go to smartjobs.qld.gov.au

https://smartjobs.qld.gov.au/jobs/QLD-DSR336948-20P

Cherbourg State School

Position: Business Manager (A04)Position status: Permanent Position type: Full-time Occupational group: Education & Training Classification: AO4

Close Date: 19 February, 2020

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate professional to join the team. In this role you will manage the delivery of a range of corporate services, support educational management activities and lead the development of systemic change by actively supporting the school management team and school community. You will oversee the delivery of administrative, financial and human resources support, including the supervision of lower level school support staff and influencing stakeholders on sensitive issues.

To apply please go to smartjobs.qld.gov.au https://smartjobs.qld.gov.au/jobs/QLD-DSR336948-20P

Contact person: Andrew Shaw Contact details: (07) 4172 9703

FREE PlaygroupWhen: Every Monday of the

school term 9am–11am

Where: Murgon State School Community Room

All families with children from birth to school age are encouraged to attend.

AN INTRODUCTION TO BIPOLAR DISORDER

Tim is a Clinical Psychologist and the Clinical Lead for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Qld

Section) Outback Mental Health Team. Working for the RFDS he has had the opportunity to

work across much of Western Queensland. Tim provides mental health services to people

living in rural and remote Australia with limited access to other services and training and

support to communities impacted by drought and flood. Tim grew up on a sheep and cattle

property in Western Australia and has always had a passion for improving mental health

service access in rural and remote Australia.

What is Bipolar Disorder?

How common is it?

Early warning signed of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder vs other issues

What helps? Effective treatments are

available

Bipolar Disorder

A workshop presented by Dr Tim Driscoll

Proston Hall - Rodney Street, Proston

Wednesday 19 February | 10.30am

What is mental health?

Who can be impacted?

Mental Health - An Overview

Topics that will be Covered Include

Complimentary lunch provided after the workshop

For more information or to RSVP 07 3370 1923

Be Respectful , Be Safe, Be a LearnerNewsletter 14 February 2020 • Page 8

Murgon State School