Welcome back to another term! It is already moving so quickly. The Anzac Service was held in week 2 and our senior students did a fabulous job. The Cross Country went successfully and our students should be commended on their efforts.  A big congratulations to Oscar for representing our school in the Gympie District Cross Country and receiving age champion, awesome work Oscar.

ANZAC Day Service

Gympie Special School commemorated ANZAC Day on Monday the 24th of April. The service was very much student driven with all Senior Secondary students having a role to play in making the service the success it was.

The students had to problem solve and adjust the plan due to the intermittent rain, and some students had to take on extra roles to fill in for unavoidable student absences. They did this with confidence and without complaint to ensure the service was the best it could be.

We were lucky to have Chelle Dobson represent the RSL and lay a wreath to begin our individual class wreath laying ceremony. We were also fortunate to have Tim Berry, a music teacher for the Gympie High School come and join the service to play the Last Post and the Rouse.

Healthy Options

This term the focus is creating a healthy meal option. Students have been working through kitchen safety and have created some wonderful posters. Towards the end of the term the students will be in the kitchen learning new skills and cooking their healthy meal option.

Life and Living

Students have been looking at maps to locate familiar places within the community and we have plans to visit the park, the train station and the local library in coming weeks.

Wellbeing

This term Wellbeing students have been learning about Resilience and the importance of being able to ‘bounce back’ when overcoming challenges. The students are developing their ability to reflect on their own emotional self-regulation skills and identify self-care coping strategies when dealing with difficult situations. It was great to see everyone participating in the teacher led discussions. In the end we all came up with a plan to help us ‘bounce back’ in a healthy way following difficult situations and challenges.

Let’s Get Physical

Firstly, apologies for any students who came home with sore muscles after Let’s Get Physical class. Students are building up their stamina and challenging each other while they learn a fitness routine. We have incorporated maths into this lesson by using timers and number. It has been rewarding to see students work with a partner while following written instructions independently. All students have improved from week 1.

English

Students are continuing their focus on composing texts, presenting ideas and actively listening to complete comprehension tasks. Our new PLD program has provided our students with structured routine based literacy lessons and our students are really enjoying the consistent approach.

Maths

This term students will continue their learning around numbers found in the environment and their meaning as well as working with clocks to the minute, 15 minute intervals and the hour. Our student are also working with money which incorporates working out the value of the Australian monetary system and exploring ‘Do I have enough money?’. Student are enjoying accessing interactive games and hands on exploring shopping catalogue’s to achieve their goals.

Artistic exploration

Our students have been exploring cultural activities, physical activities comprising of various dance genres and a variety of artistic styles. Students have then been identifying their interests in these areas.

Mother’s Day stall

Our senior students will be holding a Mother’s Day stall on Friday the 12^th May in the first session. Prices will start from 50 cents to $6.

All funds raised will be going to our P&C.