Principal's Piece
Thank you for my first week at Calliope State School. As I communicated last week, I (Mr Damien Hoare) will be replacing Ms Mackenzie as Principal until a suitable replacement has been recruited to the position. It is anticipated I will be at Calliope State School for three weeks.
I am currently the Principal at Gladstone West State School, but I also have a connection to Calliope State School as I have previously been a teacher and relieved in the Deputy and Principal roles at Calliope.
I am a strong believer that behaviour needs to be correct, before learning can occur in the classroom. I also agree that we need to teach students how to behave just like how we teach them to read, write and calculate operations.
I look forward in meeting and working with you over these next three weeks.
Reading
In 2021 we are continuing our School Improvement agenda of Reading here at Calliope. We want Calliope Students to be the BEST reader they can be. Reading: with a focus on Improved Teaching Practices of Reading. I found the below image the other day. How is your child going are they doing some type of reading every day?
Positive Conversations with Students
Over the last week at Calliope State School I have had some conversations with students and parents regarding leading questions and thinking positively towards school. When a child jumps into a car or is met by a parent or career, they are normally approached by three types of questions. The first type is a very typical question: What did you do today? and like most parents I am sure you get “ Nothing, Don’t Know”. I find myself as a parent being very frustrated with this reply.
The second question is the one that goes negative, What happened today? and the student responds with “not good, I got into trouble, etc” and at this point in time we can either make this conversation negative or positive. We as parents turn what was meant to be a positive conversation into a negative with leading questions- Who did that? Did such and such a teacher do that? This leads to negative thought and with children being at school for a large percentage of their week, we want them to have positive interactions with school.
The third one is my favourite and is the most positive reaction and engagement, and below I have listed a few that nay help guide this conversation.
What was the funniest thing that happened today?
Did anyone do anything super nice for you?
When did you feel most proud of yourself today?
What challenged you today?
What would you rate your day on a scale of 1 to 10? Why?
What was the nicest thing you did for someone else?
