It was wonderful to return to school last week after my 2 weeks additional leave. I had a fabulous time in New Zealand and hope to return there over the next few years to do some more of their Great Walks. Such stunning scenery!

A huge Thank You to Chrissie Hansen for the wonderful job she has done for our school over the past 10 months. Chrissie was Acting Principal during my leave and has been a terrific Acting Deputy Principal for our school whilst Rachael Pelling has been away, helping drive our improvement priorities. We are happy to be retaining Chrissie as she supports our Senior Sector and our Student services

We warmly welcome back Rachael Pelling, who has returned to her Deputy Principal role here at Gympie Special. Rachael has been working as a Deputy Principal at other locations, gaining valuable experience. It is wonderful to be working with Rachael again, to support our students, staff and families as we focus on teaching, learning and curriculum to achieve the best outcomes for our students.

I am excited by the learning improvements I see and hear about, throughout our school, especially in Literacy and Communication. The new, school wide approach that staff are using across the school in literacy to develop student’s phonemic awareness and knowledge is really achieving success. PLD is an Australian evidence-based approach that is aligned to the Science of Reading.

Staff and students are very busy engaging in assessment activities over the next few weeks in preparation for reporting. Report Cards will be emailed out at the end of the Term. We look forward to celebrating the gains and improvements that our students demonstrate through their learning.  

What a great Cross Country the school held on the first week back. I have heard all about it – it was very pleasing to hear how many families supported their students on the day. Thank you to everyone who made sure the day was a success to provide opportunities for our students to achieve in the Sporting arena. We had 7 students move forward to District Cross Country Trials. Congratulations to our 4 Age Champions from those trials – what a fantastic result! 

Dear Gympie Special School community,

I am very happy to be returning to Gympie Special School as Deputy Principal. Chrissie Hansen has done a wonderful job as Acting Deputy in my absence and I would like to extend a sincere thank you to her. We are very fortunate to have Chrissie staying on at Gympie Special School in 2023.

I have been away from the school for almost 12 months, working as Deputy Principal at James Nash State High and Coolum State School. It is an exciting time to be returning, and I am looking forward to be a part of the school community again.

As Deputy Principal, I am committed to supporting our students in their academic, social, and emotional growth. I believe that every student has unique strengths and challenges, and it is our responsibility to help them reach their full potential.

I am also very happy to be working with our dedicated staff who are committed to delivering high-quality education and care to our students. I have no doubt that we will continue to work together to develop innovative strategies and approaches that will enable our students to succeed.

Kind regards,

Rachael

Welcome to term 2.

Congratulations to all the students in Early Years (EY’s) as everyone has earnt a Bronze Ardy award and are working towards their silver award this term.

In week one, EY’s students joined the rest of the school for Cross Country. It is great to see families come and support the students and cheer everyone on.

On Monday of week two, we held our school Anzac Parade. Thank you to the senior staff and students who organised and ran this event. It was especially lovely to have a visiting bugle player. EY’s students listened with respect to the speakers and took part in the minute's silence. Harry, Jack, Evie and Miles laid the classes handmade wreaths on behalf of Early Years sector.  We are so proud of all our students.

On Tuesday the 9^th May EY are holding a Mother’s Day event from 9am till 10am, you should have received an invitation in the communication diaries – we are looking forward to seeing you.

Dale will being teaching Athletics to the EY students for the rest of the term ready for week 10s Sports Day. We would love to see as many family members as possible there, supporting and cheering on all the students.

EY1 have welcomed a new student this term, Oliver. He has settled into the class well and all the students have made him feel very welcome. Harrison has taken a particular liking to Ollie and will regularly engage in play with him which is lovely to see.

Now that the weather is getting cooler all our students are now accessing the playground at first break and the ball pit area at second break. Jack likes to spend his time exploring the playground picking flowers for his teacher(s), whilst Charlie is quite content on the swing. Evie and Harrison, along with students from the other early years classes like to run around and race/chase each other. Ollie enjoyed trying out the trampoline today and the carousel much to his delight. 

EY2

Isaiah received a student of the week award last week for being a learner and staying engaged for longer periods during learning sessions.

Ayden is using more spoken vocabulary across the context of the day and is highly motivated by favourite songs and stories. Jade is using the big keys word processor to write her whole name and is beginning to type word approximations during independent writing.  Indie, Dominic and Isaiah are responding to visuals to express an opinion and make choices with exciting success.

They have all enjoyed the rhymes for each week, "I'm a Little Teapot" and "This Little Pig Went to Market."  EY2 have been doing lots of craft to express our learning visually and to practise the skills of sitting and completing tasks.

EY3

I am pleased with how well Kruze is using his new PROLOQUO2GO to talk to his friends and access his learning and in turn how all the students in class are interacting with Kruze. I am enjoying Henry and Kruze using their PROLOQUO2GO’s to make comments, give an opinion and interrupt to talk off topic. Autonomous communication at its best! As a class we use waiting for the toilet to have great conversations. Miles likes to tell us about snakes and his family, Kruze talks about motorbikes, Rose talks about everything, Henry talks about food and Isaac tells us about numbers. We also use eating time to learn social interactions and use our voices (verbal, PODD or PROLOQU2GO) to ask for help opening items and to engage in conversation. A shout out to Miles and Isaac who have progressed to signing in with both their first and surnames. Miles enjoyed being the teacher today and read ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?’ to the class during book of the week.

What a great start we had to Term Two!!! We have continued exploring poetry, time, patterns, our changing environment and how to make healthy choices.

P2 all enjoyed our Cross Country Day and we were very happy to see so many parents supporting their children and having fun with all. Mia particularly enjoyed the day and decided to participate in all the races. Well done to all our students. 

We also had our first Indigenous Language Workshop with Aunti Christine, teaching us interesting facts about the Gubbi Gubbi people.

The students created a beautiful wreath for ANZAC Day Parade and proudly presented it.

We are looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day on Friday 12^th May with mums, grandmas, aunties or older sisters while enjoying afternoon tea.

What a busy start to Term 2 – it has been filled with wonderful learning, social engagement and special events! We have welcomed Mr Mark into our classroom for 4-5 weeks this term. He is currently studying in his 3^rd year of teaching and it has been a great experience for all involved. The P3 students are responding well and creating relationships with Mr Mark and it has been a good opportunity to interact with an unfamiliar adult in some unfamiliar situations, all while keeping our same routine. In the first week back at school, we had the Gubbi Gubbi Language Workshop and our Cross Country. The students participated well in these events.

The alignment between our Book of the Week and other literacy activities has been particularly strong and this has created a reliant, connected and deepened understanding of concepts for the students. Combining our 5 senses in Science with Independent Writing and the mystery box has also been a lot of fun. We are looking forward to spending Friday afternoon with our special person for the Primary Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea Party!

It has been a busy and exciting start the second term in P4. We have continued our exploration of poetry, time, patterns, data, our changing environment and healthy choices. We have also started reading the 13 Story Tree House series of books together as a class and flew through the first book and have eagerly started the second. It will be interesting to see how many stories of the treehouse we can visit during the year.

We have made an ANZAC Day wreath and ANZAC biscuits with P5, and in the background of our reading photo you can also see our ANZAC stained glass window art.

Of course in the first week back we all participated in the Cross Country and Mason worked very hard to finish second in the 2km run. It seemed like a very long way to run, but Miss Jo and students not currently running, loved cheering all students the whole way around as everyone tried their absolute best.

We also enjoyed a visit from our local Aboriginal Elder and love exploring her culture, traditions and language with our friends from P5. Speaking of visits, we are very excited for our upcoming Mother’s Day afternoon tea which you should have the invitation for. We have been working hard at some secret projects for that. We understand that some of our mums may be working and unable to attend and are very happy for substitute mums, like an adult sister or grandmother, to come instea. It promises to be a lovely afternoon (you can fight it out over the special treats later when they come home). 

We are really enjoying our learning journey so far this year and look forward to it continuing. Thank you for all your support and great communication so far this year.

What a busy and fun start to term 2. This Term we have already been to several Indigenous language workshop with Aunty Christine where we learnt about the Gubbi Gubbi people, ran in Cross Country and began Sport’s Day coaching with Coach Tim; in preparation to Sports Day at the end of term. Congratulations to Arley; P5s budding sports star. Arley qualified and represented Gympie Special School at District Cross Country.

In English, we have been working on recognising sound patterns within works and using letter tiles to create real and nonsense rhyming words. In Maths, we have begun our assessment tasks and in science we have mapped the features of our oval.

On Friday 12^th of May, we invite our mums, grandmas, aunties or older sisters to attend a Mothers day afternoon tea and share a cupcake and glass of punch with everyone.

We have begun the in a fast and furious manner with cross country in week 1. Big congrats to Ryan and Shyanne who were successful in winning their age races. Athletics training is underway, with our students refining their skills in a range of events, including shot put, high jump, and sprints. In the playground, we are trying our hand at cricket while Red Rover and basketball are still favourites in the Quad playtime.

We are increasing our ability to recognise our feelings using the Zones of Regulation. As we check in each day, we are able to speak about how we feel. We are also thinking about other people’s feelings.

In English we have brand new sets of reading books that target individual students learning goals.  We continue to explore a range of rhyming texts that usually have a humorous side. It seems this suits the students and staff alike.     

Rug up, it’s getting cold,

Declan, Tyson, Shyanne, Ryan, Mason, Evie, Hayley, Kerri, Andrea and Deb.

S2 have hit the ground running in Term 2. We began in week 1 with the Cross Country. Everyone was dressed in their team colours and ready to do their best to gain points for their team.

We are doing a science experiment where we are attempting to make crystals. The class split into 3 groups and each group chose a colour. In a couple of weeks, we hope to have some pink, orange and blue crystals growing on the stones. Have a look at the pictures of us carrying out the crystal making activity.

Aunty Christine visited us in week 2. She revisited the stories and language we learned last year, then taught us a new song about gira (fire). We read the book about gira in class and hope to practice the song before Aunty Christine returns.

The special ANZAC parade was a moving experience. We laid our wreath and listened to a man play the Last Post and Reveille on a real bugle. Afterwards we came back to class to try out the foods that the soldiers ate during the war. We dunked our ANZAC biscuits into sweet sugary tea. The soldiers had to do this as their biscuits were so hard they couldn’t eat them without dunking. We also tried some bully beef on damper. Most of us liked it, but one person said it looked a bit like cat food. Then, to end on a sweet note we had some golden syrup with damper as well.

We are beginning to do some assessment tasks in our classroom. Miss Cann is very happy with our understanding of what we have been learning this semester to date. The S2 students are demonstrating their skills and knowledge to a very high standard. Well done S2!

Wanya (hello in Gubbi Gubbi). This term the Gubbi Gubbi lessons have started with Aunty Christine. The students are learning lots of Gubbi Gubbi words and showing great memory skills from the previous lessons. We are continuing our wonderful literacy groups, with a focus on reading and language development. Every morning after our shared reading, the S3 and S4 students move between the S3 and S4 classes to work in their literacy groups. The students look forward to interacting with each other and have been completing some great work. In science we are looking closely at natural materials such as water, clay, sand, rock, wood and how they are used to make man-made structures. We are also learning how these materials are affected during natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and storms.

We are continuing to develop our skills for athletics day, cross country trials and learn all about how to stay healthy. Gympie Special Cross Country was a blast with students running in the 3km, 250m and soft fall races. A big shout out to Zane for completing the 3km and making it into the District Trials. In maths, we have started to work on sequencing, time, and sequencing the day of the week. This term athletics will start where students will be able to practise long jump, relays, javelin, high jump, shot put, and witches hat relay before athletics day at the end of term.

We had a wonderful ANZAC ceremony at Gympie Special School on Monday 24^th, where the students made beautiful wreaths which they placed on our memorial statue. Lest we forget.

If your child is in Year 10 look out for the year 10 vaccination forms coming home and send them back ASAP. Remember to check the school calendar for important upcoming events happening at GSS!

From

Tahlia, Zane, Tommy, Henry, Ray, Braydan, Jed, Peter, Savannah, Marcus, Angelina, Gorgia, Miss Libby, Miss Tegan, Mr. Darren, Miss Kelly and Miss Jasmine.

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.

Here are the core words for weeks 1 through to 7. You can use these words at home throughout the week to model communication to your child using their communication system or device. The more we all model communication, the more opportunity your child has to learn how to communicate. Core words are also great for students who have verbal communication skills as it increases their vocabulary. Why not try next time you read your child a story to model the core words in the book as you read to them? They will think it’s great fun and they’ll be learning at the same time!

Many of our student’s individual learning goals are centred around developing communication skills - and for good reason.  Not only does improved communication skills greatly empower students to more effectively engage in learning opportunities, it’s also a fundamental right that Children have the freedom to hold their own opinions and the right to express their opinions. Basically, they have the right to say what they want, when they want.  Furthermore, research shows that as a student’s communication skills increase, less-desirable behaviours are usually greatly reduced.  

In technology we follow the school’s communication framework which incorporates AAC (Augmented Alternative Communication).  The primary AAC communication tool for non-verbal students is the PODD (Pragmatic Organised Dynamic Display).  This has been repeatedly shown through research to be one of the most effective tools to facilitate and enhance communication for non-verbal students as well as increase the vocabulary and expression of students with developing verbal skills.   We incorporate AAC into all lessons and activities by modelling how it works.  We are often surprised by how quickly students begin to engage with and utilise this wonderful resource to better communicate their needs and opinions.

This term started with me joining the school community for cross country and the ANZAC parade. I also spent time with classes as they’ve learned about teeth-brushing or played indoors during wet weather. Next week I’m planning to join the secondary classes as they head off to the Gympie Show. These experiences are great as they allow me to get to know the kids and the staff better, and to see everyone try their hardest, participate in a range of activities, and experience new things.

Secondary girls’ group has not met so far this term, mainly due to staff absences. During our meetings last term, though, the girls learned self-care skills as we talked about and played with hair and nails. They also developed life skills as they completed various art and craft activities. Plus we got to have some good conversations along the way. Hopefully we will be able to start meeting again soon.

At the moment I’m working on a directory of community service providers. This project came about because it was identified that, while there are many avenues of support and things to do in the Gympie region, finding out about them can be difficult. The plan is to have the directory available for staff to use to give extra support to parents or students as needed. This project has been great because it has highlighted to me how much the Gympie region has to offer residents, and having this information in one place will be helpful.

My role is to support the wellbeing of staff, students, parents, and others in our school community. If you ever need to have a chat or help with something, please contact me. I’m at school on Tuesday (8.30-12.30) and Thursday (9.30-1.30), and can also be contacted via email – rsdri0@eq.edu.au.

Chappy Rachel

Just a friendly reminder to please DO NOT park/stop in resident's driveways at anytime.  The Gympie Regional Council will be stepping up patrols and issuing fines to those who are illegally parked. Thank you.

This newsletter the PBL team thought it was a good time to remind families of the details around the PBL Award system. Many students will have received certificates on parade over the last few weeks and some will have had their name pulled out of the rewards box and chosen a prize. This is how it works!

Coloured Ardy tickets are handed out frequently to students who are observed following the school rules in the playground, in Clyde’s Corner and when moving around the school. They are always told what they are getting the ticket for.  In the classroom, the student puts the Ardy ticket in the class ticket box. Before parade the tickets are all put in the sector boxes. Two tickets for each sector are drawn out on parade and those students select a prize.

In class, each sector has a way of tracking task completion and following classroom rules. Early Years children put a smiley face on five fingers to earn a tally mark on the Ardy tracker. Primary children must fill two hands to earn a tally mark. Secondary and Senior secondary students use an age-appropriate tick system.  Once a student has gained 25 tally marks they receive a Bronze Ardy certificate on parade. 50 tally marks gains a silver, 75 tally marks gains a gold and 100 tally marks gains a platinum.                                                                                                                   

Each week a student from each class is selected to receive a Student of the Week certificate to celebrate an aspect of their learning, a sporting achievement or for following the school rules.

A different school rule is taught explicitly each week.