Hello to our families and carers,

This semester is shaping up to be a very busy one, especially for our students and staff as we draw closer to reporting. Now with the colder weather upon us, its has been so nice to be able to get out into the warm sun during our break times. Our students continue to enjoy the open space of the high school oval, some of our students have been leading the way with the organising of sporting activities and all of our students have enjoyed participating. It’s nice to see peers encouraging others and building bonds and friendships.

Maths

Our students are continuing their focus on number, money and time to achieve their QCIA goals. Thank you for your support with our Mother’s Day stall, this allowed our senior students to plan, present items and have really life hands on experience with money handling.

Literacy

The progression our students have made in their literacy tasks has been really amazing, especially their comprehension tasks and recalling information and their abilities to be creative with their writing when composing short stores and sentences. Our students were very excited to receive their first letter from their pen pal and are in the process of returning a letter.

Artistic exploration

Our Wednesday group have continued to explore a variety of art mediums and have now identified their preferences in how they would like to be creative. We have been storing these artworks in a portfolio which we will share with families at the end of the year.

Our Thursday group have been extremely busy creating and practising their roles in our ‘Three Billy goats gruff’ play. We still have a few more weeks of practice before students will present to the secondary cohort.

Active Citizenship

Students are continuing their focus on how to be a good citizen by following rules in the school environment and the wider community. We have also been exploring local maps and identifying where our school is and where we live.

Market Garden

Our year 12 students have been busy planting herbs and vegetables in the raised garden beds at the top of the school. They researched available vegetables and growing times, then selected the varieties they wanted to grow. The students identified equipment they would need and what they must do to get the best crop they can.

Well-being

Term 2 has been a very busy time for staff and students. 

In our Well-being program, students are exploring ways to identify describe and practice strategies that promote safe practices and protective behaviours. We are identifying the people who are important and help keep us safe in our community. During these lessons students were keen to share their knowledge on a range of community services available in Gympie including Emergency Services. Students will continue exploring the benefits of identifying protective behaviours including what is safe and unsafe. Also, we have continued exploring different emotions and how to manage them. Our focus has been on how to navigate feelings and the importance of acknowledging our emotions in order to have well-being.

Until next time, take care and stay warm, the Senior team.

Kate, Nicky, Gavin, Liz, Sue, Chrissie, Michelle and Anne-Maree.