Filter Content
- Principal's Message
- Student Parade Certificates - Week 5
- What's Happening in Prep C
- Student Wellbeing Team News
- Road Safety Week
- P&C News
- RETURNING CALLS TO THE SCHOOL
- Parking Inclusion
- Quick News
- Late or Early Sign outs -
- MESSAGE TO STUDENTS
- RotaKids
- School Dentist Van
- Donations
- Biggest Morning Tea
- Prep Parent Interviews for 2024
- University of Queensland
- Gladstone Community Open Day
- Mother + Daughter Program
Welcome to Week Six. This Friday, we are joining thousands of communities across Australia as we participate in the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. Students are encouraged to wear orange on Friday. As a school, we have clearly articulated processes to respond to bullying; these are included in our Student Code of Conduct. There are many resources to support families, as we know that our parents and carers also play a critical role in preventing and responding to bullying - https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/support-and-advice/for-families.
Student Code of Conduct
Each week, we will focus on an aspect of Calliope’s Student Code of Conduct. This week the focus is the school’s targeted approach to preventing and responding to bullying. Everyone has a part to play to ensure our school is a safe space.
Preventing and responding to bullying
Calliope State School uses the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework to promote positive relationships and the wellbeing of all students, staff and visitors at the school.
Our staff know student learning is optimised when they feel connected to others and experience safe and trusting relationships. Students who feel secure are more likely to be active participants in their learning and to achieve better physical, emotional, social and educational outcomes. Teachers who feel valued and supported are more likely to engage positively with students and build stronger connections within the school community. Parents who are positively engaged with their child’s education leads to improved student self-esteem, attendance and behaviour at school. Enhancing the wellbeing of students and their educators delivers overall long-term social, health and economic benefits to the Australian community.
Bullying
The agreed national definition for Australian schools describes bullying as
- ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm;
- involving an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening;
- happening in person or online, via various digital platforms and devices and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert). Bullying behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time (for example, through sharing of digital records);
- having immediate, medium and long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders. Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.
Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:
- mutual arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
- not liking someone or a single act of social rejection
- one-off acts of meanness or spite
- isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.
However, these conflicts are still considered serious and need to be addressed and resolved. At Calliope State School our staff will work to quickly respond to any matters raised of this nature in collaboration with students and parents.
The following flowchart explains the actions Calliope State School teachers will take when they receive a report about student bullying, including bullying which may have occurred online or outside of the school setting. Please note that the indicative timeframes will vary depending on the professional judgment of teachers who receive the bullying complaint and their assessment of immediate risk to student/s.
Calliope State School - Bullying response flowchart for teachers
Please note these timelines may be adjusted depending on the unique circumstances and risk associated with each situation. This is at the professional judgment of the staff involved. Timeframes should be clearly discussed and agreed with student and family.
Key contacts for students and parents to report bullying:
Prep to Year 6 – Class teacher
School Opinion Survey
Thank you for taking time to provide us your feedback. It isn’t too late – the survey closes this Friday. We want to hear from you!
The survey will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone.
Some reminders of upcoming events from the calendar include –
- Friday 18th August – Bullying No Way Day
Week 7 –
- Road Safety Week with QPS
- Book Week (including parade) Friday 25th August 9:15am
Week 8 – Prep 2024 interviews begin
- Friday 1st September – Student-free Day
In HASS, we are learning about places and that places can be special. The students are learning how to care for these special places. This term students will observe the familiar features of places and represent these features and their location on pictorial maps and models. In small groups the students made models of Calliope as a community. We then regrouped and discussed what was missing. The students noticed there was no medical help or emergency services included. So, we went back as a group and made these for our town.
PBL Focus
This week students are focusing on communicating our feelings and the expectations around this system. It is important that students learn to communicate their feelings in a safe, respectful and responsible way. Classes will also be understanding what strategies they can do when feeling this way. All classes will look at why it is important to be sun safe and protect our feet.
If you wish to have a copy of the PowerPoint that the students will be engaging in to reinforce at home, please email jxran4@eq.edu.au.
Student Learning and Wellbeing Support Staff
At Calliope State School we have 2 guidance officers.
Miss Katelyn and Miss Lucy contribute to student support and wellbeing in our school. They work directly with students, teachers, family, other specialists and external support providers. The support provided includes advice and counselling on educational, behavioural, personal, social, family and mental health and wellbeing issues. Our guidance officers also provide our staff with support in responding to some of the most complex and challenging circumstances including student protection matters, critical incidents and mental health issues, prevention and counselling.
Why might I talk to my child’s teacher about requesting support from Miss Katelyn or Miss Lucy?
- If my child is struggling with making and keeping friends or regulating him/herself out of the red or blue zones.
- If my child is feeling unsafe and my child does not feel comfortable talking to his/her teacher.
Whole School Gauge
Huge thanks to Mrs Smith Ashton, 6A and other year 6 students for offering their assistance with our Road Safety Week activities. Please see activities below:
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
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Chalk Drawing (See timetable)-15 min sessions per class Box Car- Year 6 ‘Road Rule’ Presentation (See timetable- 15minute session per class |
Year 6 Personal Mobility Device talk/brochures (TBA) |
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P-6 Badge Design competition Prizes for students drawn on parade (Week 8)
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Year 5-6 Helmet Design competition Prizes for students drawn on parade (Week 8)
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Hi everyone! We hope everyone is enjoying the short school week! Can you believe we’re halfway through term 3?!
There are still plenty of opportunities for you to get involved around the school. If you have completed your volunteer mandatory training, you’re welcome to attend the PBL meeting on Wednesday August 16th at 3:30pm in the Staff room. If you don’t know much about PBL and want to know more but can’t make it to the meetings, ask your child’s classroom teacher about it. They will have plenty to show you around the classroom.
Our Father’s day stall will be run in week 8 on Wednesday August 30th. If you have some free time that day we would love to have you pop into the hall and join in the fun with us. We are always grateful for more volunteers in the tuckshop too.
Next week is road safety week. The school will be running some activities and competitions in order to promote awareness and education around road safety. We are very happy to have sponsored some of the prizes for these competitions and look forward to seeing how the students enjoy the activities that are being run.
Feel free to contact us at any time with your thoughts and ideas on: communication.calliopess@gmail.com for our Communication Officer or pandc@calliopess.eq.edu.au for our Executive team.
Warm regards,
Heidi, Geoff, Angela and Lisa.
We ask parents to assist us by checking their message bank before returning calls to the school, to establish which staff member has phoned. Due to the high volume of staff within our school it is not possible for us to identify who may have called you. Please call the member on their direct number if they have provided this as this will free up the office phone lines.
Police would like to remind parents and caregivers that the areas marked in yellow below on the map are ‘No Stopping’ areas, which means that you can’t pull up and wait an extended period of time for a car to leave a car park or stop to drop your children off.
These areas are clearly signed and marked with a yellow line.
Also a reminder that the Stop, Drop and Go area is limited to 2 minutes for the loading and unloading of passengers. Police have and will continue to issue fines for vehicles stopped along the yellow lines and parked in the Stop, Drop and Go area for an extended period of time.
The maximum penalty for these offences is 20 penalty units (one penalty unit = $143.75) and can attract
3 demerit points.
To avoid the end of school traffic congestion, consider parking a bit further away and walking to collect your children or delaying pick up for 5 – 10 minutes.
Remember school staff will be at Stop, Drop and Go until 3:30pm.
- ARTICLES FOR OUR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER: If you wish to publish a NOT FOR PROFIT COMMUNITY article in our school newsletter you can do this by sending an email to admin@calliopess@eq.edu.au with all the relevant details. This will then go through our approval process prior to publishing.
- REMINDER TO PARENTS: Reminder to parents and visitors to the school to drive carefully when accessing the front entrance of the school. Please drive slowly, abide by the speed limit, normal road rules and be mindful of your surrounds. We appreciate your attention and understanding.
- COLLECTING YOUR STUDENT EARLY FROM SCHOOL: We realise that, on occasion, students may arrive late for school, or need to leave early; it is hoped that these occasions can be kept to a minimum so that the learning of the student, the class and the routine of the school is not unduly disrupted. In the event that your child is late or leaves early, please ensure that the correct procedure is followed to sign in/out by going to the Administration building signing out on the iPad, collect a slip and present it to the classroom teacher.
These processes are in place so that the teachers and school staff are aware of the movement of students at school. This is for the protection and welfare of all staff and students. It is important to look at the impact that late arrival and early departure have on a student/s education and those around them. It is not only disruptive to learning that is occurring in the classrooms at the time of arrival and departure, it is all time that accumulates to missed opportunities for learning. A student who is arriving late or leaving early by 15 minutes twice a week will miss, in total, the equivalent of 4 days of school across the year.
- RETURNING CALLS TO THE SCHOOL: We ask parents to assist us by checking their message bank before returning calls to the school, to establish which staff member has phoned. Due to the high volume of staff within our school it is not possible for us to identify who may have called you. Please call the member on their direct number if they have provided this as this will free up the office phone lines.
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MESSAGE TO STUDENTS: As you know, schools and classrooms are very busy places!
To ensure our students are fully engaged in their learning, and our office staff are able to complete their multitude of daily required tasks, we ask that parents communicate clearly with their child at the beginning of each day where you will be picking them up from in the afternoon.
As you can imagine it is extremely difficult for our office staff to field scores of phone calls asking for messages to be passed on to children regarding pick-up information.
Should you need to contact your children throughout the day, please do this via the office. These should be emergency situations only. Messages received after 1.45pm may not be acknowledged by the class in time, so please ensure children know their pick-up arrangements.
We realise that, on occasion, students may arrive late for school, or need to leave early; it is hoped that these occasions can be kept to a minimum so that the learning of the student, the class and the routine of the school is not unduly disrupted. In the event that your child is late or leaves early, please ensure that the correct procedure is followed to sign in/out by going to the Administration building and signing out on the iPad, collecting a slip and presenting it to the classroom teacher.
These processes are in place so that the teachers and school staff are aware of the movement of students at school. This is for the protection and welfare of all staff and students. It is important to look at the impact that late arrival and early departure have on a student/s education and those around them. It is not only disruptive to learning that is occurring in the classrooms at the time of arrival and departure, it is all time that accumulates to missed opportunities for learning. A student who is arriving late or leaving early by 15 minutes twice a week will miss, in total, the equivalent of 4 days of school across the year.
As you know, schools and classrooms are very busy places!
To ensure our students are fully engaged in their learning, and our office staff are able to complete their multitude of daily required tasks, we ask that parents communicate clearly with their child at the beginning of each day where you will be picking them up from in the afternoon.
As you can imagine it is extremely difficult for our office staff to field scores of phone calls asking for messages to be passed on to children regarding pick-up information.
Should you need to contact your children throughout the day, please do this via the office. These should be emergency situations only. Messages received after 1.45pm may not be acknowledged by the class in time, so please ensure children know their pick-up arrangements.
Attention - Dental forms can be found on our webpage or in the office. The dental van sent out lots of letters during Week 10 of Term 2, these forms are to be returned ASAP for an appointment to be made and for the dental staff to see your child/children,this term.
Donations - The office is chasing donations of size 10 to size 14 school black shorts. If you have any that your child has grown out off, we are more than happy to receive them in the office for students.
Thank you for your help.
2024 Prep Parent Interviews are now available.
If your child is attending Prep in 2024 at Calliope State School, interviews are now open for us to meet your family for 2024 intakes. Please contact the office on 49758333 for times and days available.
