Welcome to Week 4! Last week we offered parent interviews by phone. This was a wonderful opportunity for parents and teachers to share the great work happening in the classrooms and discuss any areas for further work for individual learners. If you would still like to have an interview and missed one last week, please make contact with your child’s class teacher. Last week was one of our formal feedback weeks for parents; however, you are welcome to contact the class teacher at any time throughout the year to discuss your child.

Get Active August

We look forward to participating in this year’s alternative to the Gladstone Botanic to Bridge. GET ACTIVE AUGUST is facilitated by the Gladstone Ports Corporation and

encourages the school community to get active! We started this challenge yesterday on Monday 3 August. Once completed GPC will make a donation to our school, which can be used to purchase school resources or sporting equipment.

Each class has received a pedometer from GPC to keep track of their steps. Our challenge is based on enrolment numbers and for Calliope State School, we need to walk around Australia three times – 51 000km. Each class will record their distances each week in August. I am sure we can achieve this goal!

Pink Stumps

Last Tuesday, we held our teacher versus student Pink Stumps cricket match. There were lots of participants from the student group, vastly outnumbering the teachers. Thanks to Miss Tuttle hitting a 6 and a 4, the teachers won 21-17.

Bringing in Food to School

With the restrictions currently in place, we remind families that no food is to be brought to school to share with others. This includes birthday cakes, ice blocks or lollies. Students are also regularly reminded to not share any lunchbox food with their friends. We have students with severe allergies to certain food items and this ensures that all students know to only eat the food packed for them each day by their own families. We appreciate your continued support with this.

Reading

Reading continues as our focus this term at school. Learning to read is a significant

milestone in any child’s life and one that will bring many benefits over an entire lifetime. Parents play an important role in modelling reading behaviours and supporting your child’s reading efforts.

Ways you can help your child’s reading:

Model reading – Let your child see you reading, read to yourself and read to your child – often.

Make time for reading – Make regular time for reading, even if it is only 10 minutes a day!

What happened next? – Encourage your child to retell experiences and events in sequence. You can prompt them by asking, ‘What happened next?’ Do this after reading stories with them, allow them time to retell what happened and ask questions about the characters or the plot or the setting.

Express yourself! – Encourage your child to use punctuation to influence their reading out loud. Encourage louder and softer voices, faster and slower pace,

reading with more emotion and expression. Remember to have fun!

Encourage and praise – Reading should be enjoyable for you and your child. Always encourage their attempts and praise their efforts.

Prep Enrolment 2021

Enrolment packages for Prep in 2021 are now available from the office. Student details will be required when an enrolment form is given out. Eligible students for Prep in 2021 must turn five on or before 30 June 2021.

Completed enrolment forms are to be returned to the school office. We need to sight original Birth Certificates when enrolment forms are returned. Enrolment will not be completed without the Birth Certificate. For any further enquiries, please contact the school on 4975 8333 or email admin@calliopess.eq.edu.au

Show Holiday

Next Monday, 10 August, is our local area annual Show Holiday. This is a public holiday and schools will be closed.

Thank you!

Thank you to all our Calliope community for your continued support of our students, parents and staff. We appreciate your efforts in keeping everyone healthy by maintaining social distancing around the school and keeping students at home if they are unwell.

Raelene Norris

Deputy Principal