NEWSLETTER
Dunwich State School
23rd February, 2017
Bingle Road, Dunwich. Phone: (07) 3409 6333 Fax: (07) 3409 6300 Email:[email protected]
From the Principal’s Pen…..
Welcome
Congratulations to our new school leaders for 2017. Our school
leaders were officially announced at this weeks’ assembly.
School Captains are Mia and Charlie.
House Captains:
Noonuccal: Shayla and Harlan
Choongai: Lucy and Jai
Kindarra: Jazmyn and Grace.
The student leader badge ceremony will be held on Monday ……
from 9 am to 9:30 am in the undercover area. A morning tea for
official visitors and year 6 students’ families will be held immediately
following the end of the Badge Ceremony
Our new student leaders have to be able to demonstrate a number of
attributes. One most importantly of being a positive role model.
This means our school leaders and indeed all our year 6 students are
expected to demonstrate this trait each day. So what does it mean to
be a Positive Student Role Model? It means
Try your best
Be respectful to everyone
Be on time and organised
Help others
Be trustworthy
Be fair to everyone
Stay positive
Don’t participate in bullying or gossip.
This is the way our student leaders are expected to conduct
themselves at all times both at school and in the wider community.
Currently other roles are year six students are involved in, through a
roster system are: bus monitors and quiet games supervision of
students at second break. I look forward to sitting down and
consulting with our student leaders about ways we can help our
school and students throughout 2017
District Swimming
This Thursday eleven of the thirteen selected students will head to
Chandler Aquatic Centre with Mr Osbourne and parents to represent
Dunwich State School at the Cleveland District Swimming Carnival.
On behalf of our school community I wish them good luck for the day
and I look forward to hearing about their personal bests on the day.
Behaviour is Communication Part 1.
Term 1 / Week 4
According to family therapists and Therapy Coordinator
at Protect All Children Today Peter Marrington, there are
some effective ways of responding to and changing
inappropriate behavior we need to realise that:
WE are all different. We have different personalities, and we
respond differently. Behaviour depends on the meaning we
give an event.


Behaviours are illustrations of distress

All behavior is purposeful.

The underlying causes of the behavior need to be
assessed..
Children may “act –out” (be difficult or aggressive) or “act-in” (in the
form of depression, self harm, or withdrawal), but both forms of
behavior have one thing in common: they are responses to what is
causing pain and distress, but the child may be as unaware as the
adult of the meaning of the behavior. When asking a “why” question
often does not necessarily lead to an appropriate reason. The child’s
explanation may have no connection with the behavior, so the
answer “I don’t know” is often true!
For effective parenting, as well as giving unconditional love, keeping
your child safe, and being there for your child, try these principal
:
1.
Be consistent
2.
Be united and have one set of rules
3.
Be in charge-you are the parent
4.
Be appropriately involved in your child’s growth (the right
balance between hanging on and letting go)
5.
Balance different roles (social, work, family activities)
6.
Be realistic (age appropriate) expectations
7.
Give encouragement but also permi ss i on to fail .
(from family therapist and Therapy Coordinator at Protect All Children
Today Peter Marrington)
Jayne Barnett
Much in the same way that a smile can communicate pleasure or
happiness, and a frown can communicate sadness or displeasure, Acting Principal
behavior is a powerful means of communication. Often when children
don’t understand what they are feeling or don’t know how to express
themselves in words, their ACTIONS become their language.
Behaviour is a way of expressing what’s happening on the inside.
“Working together to ensure that every day, in every classroom, every student is learning and achieving”
Students of the Week
Year Two Science
This term in Science Year Two are learning about
‘Properties of Materials’. They are being taught how to
differentiate materials that are waterproof and those that
are strong or weak.
Students conducted experiments to test the strength of
four materials - fabric, foil, plastic and paper.
The results were :
Badge Ceremony
It took 25 marbles to break through foil. By Kabul
The fabric was strong
and held 135 marbles
before they fell. By
This Monday from 9am until 9:30am there will be Gemma
a special assembly in the library for our new
Paper was not strong
school leaders to receive their badges. All parents and paper was not
and community are welcome to attend.
waterproof. By Kirra.
Mrs Niotakis
This Week’s Positive Behaviour for Learning
(PBL) Social Skill
Wearing the
correct
school
uniform
Homework Club
Homework club will commence in week 5 and will
be offered to nominated students in Year 3 and
above. It will be held in the Library on Wednesday
afternoons from 3 - 4pm. Permission forms will
be sent home by teachers soon. Many thanks to
Yulli Burri Ba for assisting with this activity.
Donations Needed
If you have some clean plastic or cardboard containers
you would like to recycle by donating them to our Year
Two class they would be greatly appreciated. Students
will be creating a lunch box from used/recycled materials.
We look forward to seeing the variety of designs they will
create with these items. Please send to the Year Two
classroom.
Many thanks, Mrs Niotakis
Calendar
16th February
District Swimming
17th February
No swimming for Year One
20th February
Badge Ceremony
28th February
St Andrews Anglican College visit
17th March
Walkathon Prep - Yr 2
27th March
Circus Challenge
31st March
Prep to Brown Lake
25h April
Anzac Day
Year One Science
The Year One students are currently studying the subject of ‘The Living Adventure”
in Science. This is the study of living things.
On Friday students explored in the field, using the adventure playground as their area
to investigate. Students wore gloves and used magnifying glasses to assist them to
see the living things up close and shared their specimens with their peers.
They discovered lizards, grasshoppers, flies, trees, shrubs, ferns, worms, grubs., a
snail and many other plants and creatures. They learned that all living things need to have five characteristics.

they need to drink

they need to eat

they can move

they can breathe

they need shelter.
Year One are thoroughly enjoying this
component of Science with Mrs Jenner.
Attendance
Class
Percentage this term as of
Wednesday 15 / 2 / 2017
Our whole school target is 93% each day, each week for
each student.
Prep
91.7%-keep up striving towards 93%
At the end of week 3 and year to date our whole school attendance percentage is 91.8%. An increase from week one and two.
Year 1
89.8%- keep up striving towards 93%
Year 2
93.2%
Year 3
91.1%- improvement from last
week
Year 4
87.8%- improvement from last
week
Year 4 / 5
94.1%
Year 6
93.9%
While there has been some illness, please ensure your child is at
school every day and have every class reach 93% and be ‘Every
Day Counts’ Champions.
Our whole school daily attendance percentages for the week 4 so
far, is tabled below
Monday
88.8%
Tuesday
93.8%
Wednesday
96.5%-sensational!!!
How is your child’s class travelling towards 93% end of
term pizza party reward?
Let’s keep up the great effort. Remember every minute of every hour of every session of every day of
learning counts at Dunwich State School.
Indigenous Liaison Officer Position Vacant
A part time position exists at
Dunwich State School
for an ILO
to commence in Semester 1
through until the end
of the school year.
Role Description details can be
collected from the school office.
Due date for applications is
Friday 24th February 2017.
Please come along
Every Monday
at 5pm
Kids Gym
$5 / class
Masters of the Pool
2017 FOOTY SIGN ON
Staff member Marie Mann together with
members of the
community Maryanne Cox
and Desley
Leyshon
recently went to
New
Zealand to
represent
Australia at the
Masters Games. They competed in
many swimming events and all swam
very well beating their personal best
times. They all went on to win medals
which they are very proud of.
Congratulations!
Parents please advise us by Friday if your
child is playing footy. We must nominate
teams this weekend.
You can do this online at playnrl.com or call
me on 0407 590341 and I can do it for you.
Interested in Coaching or Managing?
Talk to Tony Brown - 0438778242.
The GBJRL has advised that all volunteers (including parents & carers) must
apply for a volunteer
Blue Card.
See Tony for
applications.