Week 10 Term 3 always makes me think how close we are getting to the end of the year because from the start of Term 4, the leadership team will start planning for 2024, whilst still completing the planning and improvement strategies put into place for 2023. It is always a huge term, filled with events.

Term 4 sees us:

• Conducting our 1st ever Colour Fun Run – have you registered your child yet?
• World Teacher’s Day
• Daniel Morcombe Day
• Celebrating the Year 12 Graduation
• Celebrating the Year 6 graduation
• Celebrating our end of year Whole School Rewards Day
• Swimming for Early Years and Primary each Friday
• Getting our Year 10 students ready for Senior schooling by completing SET and PATH plans
• Assessing learning and writing and sending home Semester 2 Report Cards

In addition, we will be:

• looking at classes and staffing for 2024
• finalising 2024 Booklists
• planning our improvement strategies for 2024
• transitioning students into Prep, Primary, Secondary and Senior

Our school communicates with families using a range of communication strategies. We rely on you to engage with these to ensure YOU are up to date with what is happening at your child’s school.

• Term Calendar
• Facebook posts
• Communication Books
• Notes and letters home
• SMS messages

Please keep an eye on the Term Calendar which is sent home in Week 1 each Term, Facebook posts and communication books as we approach the end of this year to make sure you are informed and up to date with all events.  

I wish all our families a safe, refreshing Spring break and look forward to welcoming our students back to school for the start of Term 4 on Tuesday 3^rd October for a fantastic term of learning!

Can you believe we are moving into the last week of term 3!

By now you will have received an initial School Colour Fun run letter and a consent form for your child to participate on Friday 10^th November 2023. This is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate inclusion, allowing our students to participate in an event that they may have seen their friends and siblings participate in. This is also a major fundraiser for our school to add money towards the prospect of buying a new school bus to provide students with ‘Community Based Learning’ Experiences. If you have not yet made your child a School Colour Run profile, I encourage you to do so and as a reminder raising just $10 for the school unlocks a special prize! If you need assistance to make a profile online, please do not hesitate to contact Phil at the school.

Last Wednesday, our TA’s (Teacher Aides) completed mid-term (Annual Performance and Development Planning) conversations to ensure goals and professional interests are met within their employment. It was an honour to hear great ideas and witness the dedication our TA’s have towards supporting the education and wellbeing of our students.

Next Friday, dressed up for Pirate Day (Warning: MR Phil loves a dress up) students will participate in a sector treasure hunt for their PBL rewards day. All students will find a treasure chest full of popcorn, poppers and gold coins however, one lucky class in each sector will find the ‘Long Lost Treasure’ winning them a game for their class!

I have had a blast getting to know staff and students during my first term here at Gympie Special School and am looking forward to term 4! In the meantime, stay safe and have an amazing holiday!

Phil Whatt

Deputy Principal

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for the warm welcome that I've received during my first three weeks here at Gympie Special School. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know the incredible students, dedicated staff, and the vibrant school environment. I am thrilled to see the engaging curriculum that our students have access to, fostering their growth and development. In particular, our recent hands-on science lessons on forces have been a fantastic learning experience for our students, sparking their curiosity and passion for discovery.

This week we shared the Gubbi Gubbi images designed by Wongai-wuru, Aboriginal artist.  These artworks not only celebrate our sportsmanship but also serve as a rich cultural canvas for our curriculum. These artworks, each representing one of our sports houses, offer a profound opportunity to integrate indigenous culture, history, and artistic expression into our curriculum, enriching the educational experiences of our students.

As we approach the next term, I eagerly anticipate the final stretch of the academic year and the opportunity to continue working alongside such an inspiring community. Thank you for your unwavering support, and here's to a future filled with exciting educational adventures!

Early Years 1 have been enjoying our Push and Pull Science Unit. The students have experimented with lots of toys and other things that we can push and pull. Even during playtime students have been learning about different forces at work. Our class particularly enjoyed being pulled along on a scooter board and also playing with some balloons filled with helium. The thought it was great pulling them down from the ceiling and then letting them go. They also use their creative skills with paint and some cars. They pushed them through the paint on paper to make different patterns.

Students and staff are looking forward to Dress Like a Pirate Day next Friday. The day is also our Positive Behaviour for Learning Rewards Day. The students will have nuggets and chips for lunch and a popper. They will also take part in a treasure hunt which will be lots of fun!

Some of our students will be receiving their Ardy Awards on Assembly on Monday. If you have time you are always welcome to come and see your child receive their award. Assembly is from 2pm to 2.25pm every Monday afternoon. Just go to the front office and they will direct you. The students receiving their awards on Monday are:

Jack, Harrison – Gold Awards

Evie – Silver Award

Mason and Oliver – Bronze Awards

Early Years 2 have had lots of fun all term with the push and pull unit in science. We are experiencing lots of ways to use the forces and are not too concerned with the exact science of movement by forces, but rather the fun we have with it. We used pretty helium balloons this week, letting them go and pulling the strings to bring them back to us!

All of us are benefitting from the whole school phonics program, practising the sounds the letters make and Jade is using her knowledge to begin reading by decoding simple words. We’re so proud to say “Jade is a reader!” Miss Shellie will be so happy.

In maths we’ve been spending time counting toys, pointing to each one as we go and matching a number to a group of items. We have also been practising holding up the right number of fingers for a number. It can be pretty tricky getting them to stay up!

We’ve been enjoying the playground in the lovely spring weather and the rain has made the sandpit great for building sand castles and digging holes. We love the sandpit as much as we love the swings.

Every day we sing the “Follow the Rules” song in our PBL lesson and talk about the rule of the week. Last week Indiana received an award on parade for being safe by moving around the school with her classmates to other rooms and the playground. Jade and Ayden have received their gold Ardy certificates for achieving 75 ticks on their Ardy tracker in class. Well done everyone.

This is the last newsletter for the term. Kate and I wish all of the families a safe and happy break from school. See you next term.

Lynne, Kate, Ayden, Jade, Dominic, Isaiah and Indiana.

Congratulations to Isaac for earning his Ardy Gold award.

We have been working hard on our literacy skills this term. The students are describing what they can see, what is happening in a story and where the characters are. Miles and Rose are learning to read and spell using Onset and Rime; this means looking at the ‘at’ Rime and adding starting sounds to make words such as: cat, mat, sat, pat. Henry and Kruze are enthusiastically engaging in reading books and commenting using Proloquo2Go. Isaac is reading texts and learning how to answer comprehension questions by looking back at the story. Every student also writes each week using a predictable chart format and by articulating their own sentence verbally or by using proloquo2Go which they then write using their letter sound knowledge.

In science we had great fun with helium ballons, practising how to pull them down from the ceiling and how to push them towards each other.

In music we joined the other 2 early years classes to follow directions in the action songs based around using a parachute, lycra and giant scrunchie. This combines our science actions and using our communication skills to describe what we think of each song. It is also great fun!

Students and staff are looking forward to Dress Like a Pirate Day next Friday. The day is also our Positive Behaviour for Learning Rewards Day. The students will be eating nuggets and chips for lunch and having a popper to drink.

And here we’ve come to the end of Term Two! What an achievement for all of us! The students have worked so hard this term and have coped well with the changes of TA’s. And Bree has also settled in well with our routine. She is still smiling…?

During this term we researched and learned so much when comparing Imaginative text to Informative text. The students have a fairly good understanding of the differences and our Year Prep student will be assessed on it in Term Four. We all had fun while exploring insects and their specific life cycles, habitats and eating habits in relation to The Very Hungry Caterpillar we read for our Shared Reading the week before. At present we are reading Grug and the Bushfire, which will be followed next week by comparing animal habitats to human dwellings, since Grug lives underground.

In Maths we continue working on our counting skills, place value, subitising etc. The students’ abilities to either verbalised positional language or comprehend and follow positional instructions have increased and we will be finishing off this unit at end of the term. Next Term we will be looking at Mass and Capacity. Much more to explore.

During our science lessons we have explored movement in various forms. At present we are looking at the movement of toy cars (which we have built ourselves) over various surfaces. Prediction skills will be practiced.

We also visited our vegetable garden and used all our senses while exploring the lovely veggie patch. Well done to Rachel our Chappie’s  initiative.

P2 students enjoyed making Father’s Day and Grandpa Day cards and buying little gifts at the Father’s Day stall the seniors provided.

We wish all our P2 parents and families a well deserved September break, stay safe, rest well and see you in Term Four!!

P3 have been working so hard and we have so many things to celebrate. We have completed our Mathematics Assessment on Location and Directions. The students know up from down and won’t get lost easily! Especially putting items in relevant locations to themselves. We have had a great time counting and playing games with numbers to 20. Subitizing is a skill that most of us are superstars at, especially to 5. It’s great to see and hear the boys having fun playing a game and not realising they are learning and practicing a skill they will use for the rest of their lives.

We are loving reading our books each week and learning facts about animals around us. Do you know the difference between an Alpaca and a Llama? Ask someone from P3, they know. (Here’s a hint, look at their ears, tails, muzzle or back!)

We are starting to get ready for dress like a Pirate day on the last day of term. Lots of parrots and masks being made!

P3 has worked so hard this term we are all ready for a holiday. Have a safe and happy holiday. See you next term.

We have been busy in P4. We have been very interested in our different types of texts and comparing stories and information texts. This week we have had some really interesting caterpillar activities as we read the Very Hungry Caterpillar and we are looking forward to investigating the life cycle of butterflies next week. We are also enjoying our mathematics learning around location and some students, who will not be named, laughed very loudly when Miss Jo walked smack into a wall when the student given directions she was following were not quite on track to get her to the treasure.

We have also very much enjoyed making our Father’s Day Shrinky key tags and cup cake day. We are loving science and hope you all saw our very cool Facebook post where we are using magnetic forces to race toys.

WOW, I cant believe we are at the end of another term. Time fles when you are having fun…

This week we welcomed a new student into our class… WELCOME MADDIE

During English we looked at comparing fiction and non fiction texts. We have enjoyed reading a variety of stories and animated versions of our favourite animal books. The following we compare features between the imaginative book and looking at informative facts on that animal. Our favourite so far has been looking at the lifecycle and different recipes using eggs. We also ground our own flour using a pestle and mortar. Rosie from Rosie’s walk dropped a bag of flour on the pesky fox as he chased her through the flour mill. We have also enjoyed typing out our predictable sentences on the computer, ipad and completing a fun craft activity along side the book of the week.  

In Maths we continue working on our counting skills, place value, subitising etc. We enjoyed playing Simon says in the classroom and oval in which we gave and followed instructions using positional words to navigate the play equipment.  Next Term we will be looking at Mass and Capacity.

During our science lessons we have explored movement in various forms. At present we are looking at the movement of various toys. Next term we will be deeper into magnetic toys.

Some fun things to look forward to next term is:

Primary excursion and camp to wildlife HQ

School swimming

Colour run

Have a safe and enjoyable holidays

As the end of term fast approaches, I am amazed by how far the students have come. We have a classroom of learners that can identify the features of informative text and create text using descriptive words. Mason has filled a table with his best work to date, by describing a fire engine using Proloquo2Go. Both Ryan and Declan have increased their reading skills including decoding many unfamiliar words.

It seems Hayley is very keen to work on maths, even during free time. In addition, Hayley is our latest recipient of a ‘Gold Ardy Award’. Tyson, Mason, Evie and Ryan are getting closer to Gold as well.

Have a great break, see you in Term 4,

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

S2 have an amazing sound wall display at the back of our classroom. We have been doing a sound a week using the PLD Literacy Program. It has assisted so many of us with our reading and spelling accuracy. It also makes us feel very clever to see of the words we can read. Many of them we are also able to spell using our new found phonetic knowledge.

We were unable to attend parade for a couple of weeks and the certificates were building up. So that we didn’t hold up the next parade, Mr Phil came down to our classroom and presented us with Silver Ardy Awards as well as Student of the Week certificates. S2 students are continuing to make correct choices and living up to the school expectations of being a Safe and Respectful Learner.

The skills we learned outdoors about location and direction were put to good use when we brought the Bee Bots to our classroom. We were programming coordinates into the Bee Bots to follow a map. We also made some of our own maps. It was great fun to follow Miss Cann’s directions and try to make the Bee Bots perform synchronised dances across the classroom floor. It was funny when 1 single Bee Bot went hey wire and travelled in the wrong direction. We are much more aware of the importance of knowing the difference between left and right. It becomes so obvious when your Bee Bot goes the wrong way.

We wish everyone a safe and happy September break and look forward to 4^th term.

In English we are continuing to deepen our understanding of informative and imaginative texts. Each Week we read an imaginative text and an informative text and compare them. The students are doing a great job identifying what is similar and different. The S3 and S4 classes are also working on sentence punctuation by correcting sentences during our morning message. In maths we are working on location using maps, concrete materials and cut and paste activities. The S3 and S4 classes are using great language when describing where things are. Next term we will start to look at capacity and measurement. Libby and Tegan have some fun hands-on activities planned. In science we are continuing to work on circuits but now the students are getting hands on and making their very own circuits. First the students made them out of card board, paper clips and split pins and now are working towards using actual wires, batteries and lights!  

Aunty Christine returned to Gympie Special School in Week 7 where the students revised Gubbi Gubbi words for animals, people and things. Aunty Christine also got the music out and the students engaged in singing and dancing related to Gubbi Gubbi language and culture. Zane did a wonderful job at pretending to be the frog (Warbu in Gubbi Gubbi).

On the 31^st of August we celebrated our amazing teacher aides and all the support they provide the students and teachers at Gympie Special School. A big THANK-YOU to Kerri W, Amie, Jasmine, Kelly and Kerrie J for everything you do!

We hope all families and students have a wonderful holiday and look forward to welcoming the students back in Term 4.

Warm regards

S3 and S4

The Senior students have had a busy few weeks and are all looking forward to their holiday break! It is hard to believe it is the end of term 3 already. This year has flown by! Thank you to all that supported our Father’s day stall, it was a great success. We were very proud of how our senior students organised and presented the stall.

Sport in the Community

The students have thoroughly enjoyed learning the aerial acrobatics throughout this term. The final lesson will comprise of the students putting together a routine for presentation. The practice this week showed just how hard the students have worked to combine all of the skills they have learnt. So much natural talent! Next term we will be focusing on group games and fitness.  

Work Experience 

During Term 3 Year 12 students have had the opportunity to access many local businesses and organisations for work experience. The students have completed rotations in hairdressing, childcare centres, local cafes, retail and motor vehicle settings. We are so proud of how our students have conducted themselves whilst working within the community. 

Hospitality

Students have set up a coffee business within the school. This initiative has provided the seniors with a real-life experience of running a business and serving customers.

The teachers have been impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm shown by the students. They have been guiding them on various aspects of customer service, such as taking orders and handling cash transactions.

Moreover, the teachers have also been encouraging the students to experiment with different flavours. This has allowed the seniors to understand the importance of pricing their products competitively and promoting their iced brews effectively.

The success of the seniors' iced coffee venture has not only brought joy to their taste buds but has also benefited the school community. Overall, the seniors' creativity in the kitchen has not only resulted in delicious, iced brews but has also provided them with valuable life skills. Through this experience, they have learned the importance of teamwork, time management, and customer/teacher satisfaction. 

Art across the centuries

Students have been emersed in the history of art and viewing some of the most famous artworks across the decades. Each lesson, students then have been participating in different styles of art, including expressionism, romanticism, Impressionism and symbolism painting. Students have been producing some wonderful pieces and are really enjoying this subject.

Active Citizenship

Students have turned their focus to recycling and what that looks like in the school. We have started to collect paper waste and fruit waste to feed the gardening and paper making program.

Some of our students have been creating stand out posters incorporating the rule of the week to display around the school and continue to present parade on a weekly basis.

Market enterprise

Students have started to create products to sell at a future stall at the Maryborough markets. We are very excited to participate in our visit to the markets to collect information on how to run a stall and what items we need to create a visually appealing stall. Students have already created some amazing products which have included, tie dye shirts, cactus rock pots and are nurturing succulents to create our tea cup succulent gardens. Watch this space.

Gardeners and Paper Makers

The Senior students have continued to display their vegetable growing skills with a plentiful harvest for display on the GSS Open Day. The students picked, washed and packed the vegetables into a basket for visitors to sample. There were plenty of positive comments and not much left in the basket at the end of the day.

After a hard morning gardening the students experienced making paper for the first time. We have been discussing the process for a week or two and the students were excited to finally get their hands into a soggy mess of blended paper. For a first attempt the results were amazing. As we refine our skills and become confident in the process, we will be experimenting with colour and texture to make some interesting recycled paper.

Over the last couple of weeks in Design Technology students have explored pulleys, winches and robotic hands.  They investigated how pulleys and winches are used on the likes of tow trucks and cranes to lift things up.  Last week students made robotic hands out of paper and straws which could open and close by pulling a string.  This week we are learning about parachutes and will be designing some of our own to try out.  Technology is fun!

As our communication team wraps up the end of the term, we reflect on all the achievements we have made during the term. This includes our staff professional development sessions, AAC workshops and our Boardmaker workshops. Our next steps are to create a plan for next term and look forward to 2024 and the goals we wish to reach.

We’d like to thank parents who have used our Core Word of the Week with your child. If we all work together our students will become great communicators and be able to say what they want, when they want, to whomever they want.

Have a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to term 4!

The Communication Team 

Leading on from our priority focus of ‘Data-Based Decision Making’.

Our Sectors have been hard at work implementing their created SMART goals to reduce behaviour incidents in specific areas within the school environment. Having professional sector discussions our staff implemented positive interventions and strategies to lower behaviour reports in the playground at first session. From this behaviour reports in this area have been at least halved within all sectors compared to our data from the last newsletter. While we know we still have part of the journey to travel I would like to congratulate and celebrate these achievements by our staff and students.

We have our final PBL Committee meeting this Wednesday where we will continue the review of our school’s behaviour matrix… We are still looking for a community member to join our amazing PBL team if this is something that interests you?

Phil Whatt

Deputy Principal

Hi again sports fans,

Over the past few weeks, several students have been working hard in preparation for the Wide Bay Schools athletics event which was held in Bundaberg last Monday to Wednesday. The students who went away represented the school amazingly, bringing home a variety of placings in their respective events. Some of these students have now got the opportunity to represent Wide Bay at the State athletics championships held in Brisbane in mid-October.

Congratulations to these athletes on their success.

Until next time

Mr Dale

Co-Sports Coordinator