It has been wonderful to see all of our students settle back into school this term. The start of a new year, with new teaching staff and new classmates, can be a big change for many of our students and they have done a fantastic job. We have had several new students transition into Gympie Special from local Primary and High schools and we warmly welcome them and their families into our school community. We have a couple of new enrolments happening between now and the Easter holidays and we are looking forward to welcoming those new students to our school.

We also welcomed 8 new Preps to our school! That is a large number of new, very young, students learning how to do school and they have been amazing! I am so proud of how well our preps have settled into Gympie Special School, and how fantastic the staff supporting them have been. Our Prep parents play a vital role in their student’s education and their transition into formal schooling.  I would like to thank our Prep parents for the wonderful way they have supported their children over the past weeks to settle happily into school.

I would like to send a big welcome to the following new staff:

Miss Linda and Miss Amy in Secondary Sector, and Miss Alicia in Early Years.

These experienced classroom teachers have joined our staff from other Queensland schools.

Mr Steve, an experienced teacher aide has joined us in the Primary Sector.

It has been wonderful to have such experienced staff join our staff- each new staff member brings fresh approaches, ideas and enthusiasm to our school. Welcome to them all!

Please make sure you are following us on Facebook: each week we put many photographs of students working and engaging in their learning, and announce school events via our Facebook page.  Stay as up to date as possible by keeping an eye out for our posts. Tag your family and friends and remember, we welcome positive messages and encouragement on our Facebook posts.

A great deal of information has been sent home over the past few weeks and at times it can be a little overwhelming to know what and when and who to return it to. Please feel free to contact our office on P: 54802333 and chat with Jess or Cassandra if you need any help completing forms or providing information. We are here to help you.

Best Wishes

Sarah Lester

Principal

Welcome to the start of what promises to be an exciting and productive year here at Gympie Special School. I cannot believe we are already at week 5 and nearly half way through term one, however as we step into this new academic year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the fantastic energy and enthusiasm that our students, staff, and community have brought into 2025.

We’ve had a smooth and positive start, with our students already settling into their routines, eager to learn and grow. It’s always a joy to see the excitement in their faces as they embark on another year of discovery and achievement. Our staff has worked incredibly hard to ensure that our school environment is one that promotes both academic and personal growth for all learners.

One of the exciting developments for our school this year is the continuation of Team Teach Training. This training initiative is focused on enhancing our ability to work together more effectively as a team, ensuring that our teaching methods are collaborative, innovative, and tailored to meet the diverse needs of our students. We are committed to providing our educators with the tools to stay safe and strategies necessary to foster a positive, inclusive classroom environment. This training is an essential part of our professional growth, and we are looking forward to seeing the positive impact it will have across all year levels.

In addition to Team Teach, our school-wide student free professional development days were a great success. We recognise that the best outcomes for our students happen when our staff is continuously learning and developing. This year, our professional learning focus will be on building teacher capacity, with specific attention to differentiated instruction, reading initiatives, and enhancing student engagement. We believe that by investing in our staff, we are creating a strong foundation for success that will benefit all students.

We are looking forward to a year filled with growth, learning, and collaboration, and I am confident that together, we will achieve great things.

Here’s to a successful 2025!

Phil Whatt

Deputy Principal

Our teaching staff has put in tremendous effort to create welcoming and organised classrooms that encourage curiosity, inspire participation, and provide students with the resources they need to thrive.

We have almost completed our Individual Curriculum Planning (ICP) meetings. These meetings have allowed us to better understand each child’s unique needs, and teachers have been collaborating closely with parents to ensure tailored support is in place for every student. We look forward to continuing our partnership to support your child’s learning journey.

In English, students have been exploring persuasive texts, focusing on using persuasive language techniques and identifying the words and phrases that convince people. They are gaining valuable skills in influencing and engaging their audience. This helps them understand how writers use language to influence what others think or do.

In Science, students have been diving into the exciting world of forces, exploring topics like pushes and pulls, magnets, and circuits. Through hands-on experiments, they’re building a solid understanding of how these forces work and expanding their curiosity about the natural world.

In Maths, students have been focusing on developing their number and problem-solving skills. They are strengthening their understanding of number concepts, improving their ability to solve mathematical problems, and building confidence in applying these skills to real-world scenarios. This focus is setting a strong foundation for more complex mathematical concepts in the future.

Our specialist teachers have also been delivering engaging and educational experiences in Music and Physical Education. In PE, students are learning how nutrition affects physical performance. Through discussions and activities, they are gaining an understanding of the importance of balanced diets and energy sources to fuel their bodies for optimal health and fitness. In Music, students are exploring a range of instruments, rhythms, and musical theory, all while developing a deeper appreciation for the arts. Whether through singing, playing instruments, or composing their own music, students are improving their listening, coordination, and creative skills.

It has been a productive and exciting first half of the term, with great progress being made across all areas of the curriculum. We are committed to providing high-quality education and fostering an environment where every child can succeed. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to continuing to work together to ensure your child’s success.

Warm regards,

Karen Abt, Head of Department -Curriculum

Early Years 1.

We have had the best time in our little classroom over the last five weeks. Every day is filled with laughter and learning. All the children have responded to the routines and learnt to do school beautifully. With the support of the PODD and our visual timetable, each day is reassuringly predictable. It is so good to see the children respond to transitions so happily. It has been a learning curve for them to transition to sessions with Coach Tim, parade, library and all the other places they go to over a week.

Learning sessions are exciting with our lovely books and props. The children have enjoyed each one and we keep listening to them after we move on to a new one. We are practising our letter sounds and letter formation. Drumming the syllables in familiar words is a favourite activity. Specialist day on Thursday is always a good day. PE with Riane and music with Declan is fun and provides an opportunity to be with the other children in Early Years 2.

We counted our Ardy tickets today to check if we had enough for a purchase at the Super Shop on Friday. A Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) incentive. The children are excited after looking at the poster showing what they can ‘buy’ with their tickets!

The playground is a favourite place to be. Each day has exciting activities-pavement chalk, water play, sandpit toys and the swings and climbing frames. It will be nice when the weather cools down a bit!

Half way through first term and the children have really embraced being at school. They are amazing!

Lynne, Claire, Amity, Elena, Eve and Matthew.

EY2

My how time flies when we are having fun. What a jam packed 5 weeks we have had already. In January we welcomed 4 new friends to Gympie Special School in January and welcomed a 5^th over the past week.

Over the past 5 weeks we have been busy building routines around “how to do school” including sharing and turn taking, waiting on the bench and walking as a group. We have also become familiar with the 3 overarching school rules I am safe, I am respectful, I am a learner. We are also very excited to earn “Ardy tickets”; the whole school positive behaviour for learning system. These tickets will allow us to visit and purchase rewards at the end of week 5 and 10 of each term.

During literacy sessions we have been focusing on letter sounds. One of our favourite activities is to crank the volume on the karaoke microphone in order to sing and say letter sounds and words as loud as it will go. We have also been enjoying books of the week: Brown Bear Brown Bar what do you see and there was an old lady who swallowed a fly. We have laughed a lot at the funny predictable chart sentences we have written about the book of the week. There was an old lady who swallowed a penguin and Brown bear brown bear what do you see? I see a green chicken looking at me.

In maths we have had fun with a range of hands-on resources making and counting quantities and joining with our friends from EY1 to participate in counting and number songs. So far, our favourite songs have been 5 little duck and 5 flying men in flying saucers. We dress up as aliens during the song and choose from a wide range of funky rubber ducks which include cheer leader, witch and doctor duck.

We also join friends from EY1 during coach Tim’s basketball sessions. Le have been learning to sit and wait our turn, share and pass the ball, throw and catch to a partner and shoot hoots in the wheelie bin and a PREP sized basketball hoop.

Erin and Kelsey and EY2 students

Over the past term, Early Years 3 has been learning their class routines, to get to know their new teacher and the school expectations. We have really enjoyed learning based around the story ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and have begun listening to ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear’. We use communication boards to make choices in response to questions about these stories and include these in our Predictable Chart Writing lessons.

During our maths lessons, we have been learning about shape and number. We have also done some play-based learning in the school gym and during basketball on Mondays! We particularly love outside play.

Alicia and Kate

EY4 striving for more

Week 5 and we have come so far since the start of the new school year. EY4 has been joined by a new class member bringing our crew to 6 students. It is amazing how the dynamic changes adding one more to the mix and we have been enjoying the benefits of different groupings for learning that helps with social skills, taking turns, sharing and encouraging each other to do our personal best. We have already celebrated one birthday and eagerly await our Crazy Hair Celebration on Friday the 28^th of February.

As we have become familiar with classroom expectations, learning routines and school rules, we are able to take more responsibility for our learning. Every morning we unstack our own chair and open our sign in packet to begin work. At the end of the day, we help pack up, restack our chairs and pack our school bags for home time. We are beginning to earn lots of Ardy tickets for being Safe, Respectful, Learners. When we have at least 10 Ardy tickets, we will purchase items from the new PBL Rewards Shop that will be open in Weeks 5 and 10. This initiative helps us with counting and creates healthy competition to follow the rules at school as we try to collect enough Ardy tickets to exchange for preferred items.

In math we are exploring shapes with a focus on squares, circles and triangles. There are lots of shapes to find on our way to the playground each day. The weather has been very hot some days but it is fun to play under the shade sails and explore the cool sandpit. The swings are as popular as ever but we have learned to wait behind the yellow line until the timer goes off for our turn.

In literacy we are continuing with letter sounds and blending. Learning the sounds the letters make is an important step in learning to read and to be able to decode new and unfamiliar words. We no longer teach the alphabet in order as it can be difficult for children to replace the memorised letters with the sounds they represent. Imagine if you only knew the letter names! A simple word like c-a-t would sound like SEE-ATE. Dog becomes DOHJE. By familiarising ourselves with the sounds of s-a-t-p-i and n, we can decode and read a LOT of simple words that helps us become more confident readers. No matter how well your child reads, listening to someone else read helps them to learn how to read with inflection, to pause at commas and full stops and to read in a natural, talking voice over a robotic decoding voice. We will spend a lot of time learning our sounds and blending them together this term which will help confident readers to write and spell.

Around all of that learning, we have managed to fit in art activities that support our understanding of letters, numbers and Books of The Week. The class had the best time making story wheels for Brown Bear, Brown Bear (what do you see) so enjoy hearing your children sing as they spin!

Until next time, take care of you,

Miss Jodie, Miss Nairda and EY4

During Our first PBL meeting we scan and assessed behaviour data from the first 3 weeks of term. It has been identified that physical aggression’ particularly in the ‘Classroom’ during ‘first session’ will still be our target to reduce One-School Data Reports (ODR’s). Knowing this will most likely be our top behaviour to counter for some time the PBL Committee have enacted a whole school SMART goal as following.

Embedded strategies will decrease ODR’s for physical aggression from 7.14 to 6.5 between weeks 4 – 7 (T1, 2025) as measured by the Big 5 data report.

The strategies we would like all staff to implement is as follows:

1: Fast and Furious morning session Ardy Ticket Blitz – During morning session we would like you to go above and beyond providing Ardy tickets for everything you see that is positive. This will give opportunities to remind students about new Ardy shop, promote parallel praise opportunities and hopefully assist with first session engagement.

2: Start the day before morning circle with a preferred five-minute activity or game.

We are hoping this will assist with Setting events happening before entering the classroom and allow regulation from transitioning before leading into the day routine.

As you would have seen on Facebook:

This year we have transitioned from pulling out Ardy Tickets at Parade to creating and implementing our new whole-school 'Ardy's Superstore'. This will give EVERY student the ability to celebrate their positive behavior through purchasing prizes (With positive behaviour Ardy tickets - Safe, Respectful, Learners) in weeks 5 and 10 in each term. This will also promote and teach the skills of saving, purchasing and working out change.

Along-side this, On the days Ardy's shop is open for business we will celebrate positive behaviour through a mid-term celebration! The first will be 'Crazy Hair Day on Friday week 5!

Your Friendly Neighbourhood PBL Team

It has already been a very busy term and can you believe we are half way through? In P1 we have loved our start to the year. Our new Ardy ticket shop has had us all very excited and we examine the photos of the prizes daily so we can save up the ticket price we need. We also had a great time making little wallets to keep our tickets in.

Science has been so much fun for exploring magnets and answering questions about what is in our classroom is magnetic and what is not. We have also come up with some creative ideas to test and can tell you that neither the wrapper or the inside of chocolate coins are magnetic. We tested several times to make completely sure.

A favourite maths activity is addition towers which we all engaged with much enthusiasm, even if it is a little tricky to keep one towerr standing while we are working on the one next door. We are also really enjoying finding out about shapes and looking for them in our environment.

Coach Tim's sessions are heaps of fun and we love getting out of the room and playing basketball in the quad. Some of us are getting very good at getting the basketball in the hoop.

Our persuasive writing in English is coming along in leaps and bounds. We enjoy expressing our opinions and explaining why somethings are better than others. Miss Jo promises she is not teaching us to argue, just to express firm opinions backed up by good reasoning!

Jo, Declan, Bree and students

Dear Primary 3 Parents.

Here we are already in Week 5, gosh time does fly when you are having fun!! The students in P3 have settled in well, have adjusted to their new classroom routines and new classmates.

As you know, we have changed the Ardy Award System, and this is the big week for the students to go and buy something from the shop with their Ardy tokens. They are excited and have been motivated to follow our PBL School Rules, to be Safe Respectful Learners. Remember on Friday we have Crazy Hair Day to celebrate halfway mark for Term 1.

They students enjoyed and have made great progress during our basketball sessions with couch Tim. Basic ball skills, and following specific instructions are top priority.

In English we are working on our phonic skills, participating in shared reading sessions and have fun creating sentences with our core word of the week.

In Maths we are focussing on number work and starting to identify and working with shapes in class and in our school environment.

Carina, Andrea and students

Hi to everyone,

P4 has had a wonderful start to the year. We welcomed Taten who has fitted in so well he has made friends in the classroom and the Primary Sector. After today’s wonderful news, we also want to congratulate Taten on his 2024 sporting achievement that was recognised at parade on Monday.

We have been reading our ‘Book of the week,’ which leads to our wonderful composition of our class ‘Book of the week,’ to showcase our students’ writing. This also seems to bring our sense of humour as we choose images to support our written text. During our literacy sessions, Rose and Skylah are increasing their word knowledge. Great to see.

Maths is already shaping up to be fun and exciting as P4 students use their knowledge and skills independently. Koby is still a whiz and Taten is following his lead.

Finally, we welcome Trinity to our classroom, who has already proven herself to be both helpful and a keen learner.

Until next time, Koby, Rose, Taten, Trinity, Skylah, Steve and Deb.

Our students in Secondary 2 have been settling into their classroom routines beautifully, developing independence and confidence in their daily activities. It has been wonderful to see them engage enthusiastically in their lessons learning about shapes in maths, exploring circuits in science and responding to stories read together in class. One of the highlights of the week has been our swimming sessions, where students have been building their water confidence and having a fantastic time splashing around and learning new skills. We are excited to see their continued growth as we move through the term!

Amy, Jasmine and Jasmin

S3 Newsletter  T1 2025

What a fabulous beginning to the year so far.  A special mention to fun Fridays – swimming and science all day.  The students encounter with science has led to discovering the properties of objects and how they move. We have made shoes out of paper, observed the properties of soft plastic clay, used push and pull to move objects and propelled pom-poms into the air using our balloon made launchers! There has been lots of fun and laughter!  For maths, we’ve begun to make some great art with shapes, including some monsters that make the room look great.  Then there’s English where the students have loved some of the persuasive texts shared, such as ‘Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus’.   A lot of laughter and engagement and it’s so great to see them getting into books.  We’re all looking forward to Crazy Hair Day this Friday.  I can’t wait to see what everyone does with their hair – what a fun way to celebrate their successes, not to mention the school ‘shop’ in deputy Phil’s room.  Too exciting and great job S3!   Andy, Gaelle, Sabana, Josh & Bec.

S4 Newsletter

As we approach the middle of the term, we’re pleased to see that our students have settled into their daily routines. They have been fully engaged in their science lessons, especially when it comes to acting out 'push and pull' situations. It’s fantastic to see them experimenting with physical forces in such a hands-on way! They’ve also been enjoying the challenge of building circuits, which is giving them a deeper understanding of electrical systems. We love seeing the excitement and curiosity in their faces as they explore these concepts in class!

In addition to science activities, our S4 students have been participating in sensory experiences, exploring the textures and creativity behind slime, glitter, playdough, and kinetic sand. These hands-on activities have been a fun way to engage the senses while learning to relax and interact with each other through play.

We are looking forward to meeting our parents and carers during Week 9’s Parent Engagement Day. It will be a fantastic opportunity to connect, engage in some fun games, and enjoy a lovely morning tea together. We’re excited to share our progress and experiences with our families and continue building our school community.

In the meantime, our students are enjoying their daily movement breaks, which help them stay energized and focused throughout the day. These quick, active sessions are a great way to re-energize, stay sharp and help with transitions. Fridays are especially exciting with our weekly swimming lessons, providing an excellent opportunity for fitness, fun, and developing new skills in the water.

Warm regards,

Libby, Michelle, Leah, Heath, Daniel, Max, Thomas and Chris.

The first half of the term has gone in the blink of an eye. S5 has been very busy getting straight into lots of fantastic learning, investigations and building new friendships. So far, we have done two Science kit experiments. One being a solar car and the other being snapping crocodiles. It was a great challenge to put together the circuits for these kits. The Maths has been a mix of identifying features and properties of 2D and 3D shapes and understanding and breaking down numbers in a variety of ways. The students are becoming familiar with our regular reading, spelling and writing activities. Swimming has been a success, although making us very hungry afterwards. The boys have been developing their competence and skills in a range of different strokes and techniques. In Week 8, S5 and S6 will be preparing to relocate our classroom for a short-term period as our building is getting renovated over the last couple of weeks of term and the school holidays. It will be very exciting to have a fresh new classroom in the early weeks of Term 2! ? We also have a few fun events to look forward to later on in the term, being Cross Country and our Secondary Parent Engagement morning. An invitation for this will be sent home shortly. The class is looking forward to visiting the brand new Ardy shop this week! The students have been saving up their Ardy tickets due to being safe, respectful learners. Lastly, this Friday is Crazy Hair Day. We are sure to have a positive second half of the term as well!

Secondary 6 has started the term 1 super focused on learning. Our class has been learning about 2D and 3D shapes in Mathematics. Look at the photos of S6 students working in teams to construct a pentagon. In English our class is learning about persuasive text, expressing and writing our opinions on topics of interest. The Boys STEM group have been engineers designing a tower that stands alone. With problem solving to make their towers stronger and more stable they successfully achieved their goal. The Girls Group made bracelets whilst developing their friendship skills talking about what friendship means to them individually. Science has been a real favourite and students have successfully completed Electronic BrainBox exploring switches, sound and light.

Senior News

We are half way through Term 1 and our senior students have covered a lot of content already. We engaged in a very special leadership parade where our House Captains and School Captains were announced. Congratulations to the following students:

Dala House Captain- Tommy

Mari House Captain- Marcus

Gigum House Captain- Gorgia

School Captains- Zane and Savannah

Well done to all of our other students who nominated to take on a leadership role this year, it was a very tight race.

As you may know Miss Kate has been away and we are happy to announce that she will be returning in the upcoming future, we look forward to her return.

Curriculum

Students are settled into their new routines and are enjoying Literacy lessons based around persuasive texts including daily reading and writing activities.

This term our focus in Numeracy is shape and number values which has incorporated concepts of money. Students have been emerged in online shopping ready for our Café on a Friday where they are learning how to navigate a recipe and prepare simple meals including measuring and understanding how to use equipment in the kitchen in a safe and hygienic manner.

Swimming

Each Wednesday students who have chosen swimming as their elective have been accessing the local pool. We would like to congratulate our students on the respectful way they represent our school when walking to and from the pool and during the swimming lessons.

The Arts

Students participating in the arts have been exploring and experimenting with different mediums and techniques to create artworks. Students have created a portfolio and each week they have been filing the art pieces into these portfolios to take home at the end of the term.

Zones of Regulation

Our students have been focusing on different emotions and strategies to help self-regulate when facing these emotions. Our students have displayed a very mature attitude when engaging in our Zones.

Thank you to our parents who have indicated an interest in attending camp this year, if you have not already indicated if your students will be attending, can you please indicate in your student’s communication book.

Until next time, stay safe.

Senior Staff

Kate, Elizabeth, Liz, Kerri, Jane & Dana.

Over the past 5 weeks in Health and Physical Education, the students have been focusing on Healthy Choices and what the benefits are of making these healthy choices. The Healthy Choices topic is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions that promote their overall well-being. This topic emphasizes the interconnectedness of physical, mental, and social health, and encourages individuals to adopt behaviours that enhance long-term health outcomes. The main goal of the Healthy Choices topic is to empower students to take responsibility for their health and lifestyle, making choices that improve their quality of life and reduce the risk of preventable diseases.

During the last 5 weeks we have focused mainly on healthy food choices, exercise, healthy sleep and personal hygiene. Students learned about the importance of balanced diets, the role of nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals), and how to make informed food choices. They explored how physical activity contributes to mental, emotional, and physical health. The Healthy Choices topic provides individuals with the tools to make informed decisions that positively impact their lives. By focusing on key areas such as nutrition, physical activity and sleep, this subject lays the foundation for students to lead balanced, healthy, and fulfilling lives.