Newsletter – Term 1 Week 6

Welcome to Week Six of Term One.  At Calliope State School we showcase our students achievements through our newsletter, the school’s Facebook page and special days where parents and caregivers are invited into our classrooms.  Additional to this we are showcasing on the TV in the school’s administration foyer.  If you are up at the school, take some time to view our latest showcasing on the TV.

Equity and Excellence

Calliope State School has had a process with mobile phones and devices for many years.  It is included in our Student Code of Conduct and I have included a snip below.

Some students do have smart watches.  These need to be switched to Airplane mode during the day.

To support your children to maximise their benefits from the reduced distractions that can come from mobile devices including smart phones, all Queensland schools now have a Phones awary for the day from 2024.

 Use of mobile phones and other devices by students

Digital literacy refers to the skills needed to live, learn and work in a society where communication and access to information is dominated by digital technologies like mobile phones. However, the benefits brought about through these diverse technologies can be easily overshadowed by deliberate misuse which harms others or disrupts learning.  This also extends to Smart Watches i.e. watches that allow communication between school and the outside community to occur and that contain games and Apps which can lead to off-task behaviour.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities for students using mobile phones or other devices at school or during school activities are simple: all devices are to be handed into the office upon arrival at school.  It is the responsibility of all students to collect these items at the end of the school day.  

 It is unacceptable for students at Calliope State School to:

• use a mobile phone or other devices in an unlawful manner;
• download, distribute or publish offensive messages or pictures;
• use obscene, inflammatory, racist, discriminatory or derogatory language;
• use language and/or threats of violence that may amount to bullying and/or harassment, or even stalking;
• insult, harass or attack others or use obscene or abusive language;
• deliberately waste printing and internet resources;
• damage computers, printers or network equipment;
• commit plagiarism or violate copyright laws;
• ignore teacher directions for the use of social media, online email and internet chat;
• send chain letters or spam email (junk mail);
• knowingly download viruses or any other programs capable of breaching the department's network security;
• use in-phone cameras anywhere a normal camera would be considered inappropriate, such as in change rooms or toilets;
• invade someone's privacy by recording personal conversations or daily activities and/or the further distribution (e.g. forwarding, texting, uploading, Bluetooth use etc.) of such material;
• use a mobile phone (including those with Bluetooth functionality) to cheat during exams or assessments;
• take into or use mobile devices at exams or during class assessment unless expressly permitted by school staff.

At all times students, while using ICT facilities and devices supplied by the school, will be required to act in line with the requirements of the Calliope State School Student Code of Conduct.  In addition students and their parents should:

• understand the responsibility and behaviour requirements (as outlined by the school) that come with accessing the department’s ICT network facilities;
• ensure they have the skills to report and discontinue access to harmful information if presented via the internet or email;
• be aware that:

o access to ICT facilities and devices provides valuable learning experiences for students and supports the school's teaching and learning programs;

o the school is not responsible for safeguarding information stored by students on departmentally-owned student computers or mobile devices;

o schools may remotely access departmentally-owned student computers or mobile devices for management purposes;

o students who use a school's ICT facilities and devices in a manner that is not appropriate may be subject to disciplinary action by the school, which could include restricting network access;

o despite internal departmental controls to manage content on the internet, illegal, dangerous or offensive information may be accessed or accidentally displayed;

o teachers will always exercise their duty of care, but avoiding or reducing access to harmful information also requires responsible use by the student.

Dolphins

Description:

A Dolphin is a sea animal.  They have one fin each side of their body and one fin on their back.  They breath through a hole called a blow hole.

Diet:

Dolphins eat fish and squid, prawns and crabs and baby turtles with soft shells.

By: Bronte

Dolphins

Description:

Dolphins can be mixed with black, grey and white.  They have a fin on both sides and one on their back.  Dolphins live together in groups called pods.  Dolphins have a long nose.  Dolphins are black on the top and grey and white on the bottom.

Diet:

Dolphins eat fish squid and other sea animals.

By: Hayley

Dolphins

Description:

A dolphin has 3 fins.  They have a long nose.  They have a blow hole. 

Diet:

Dolphins eat fish and squid.

By: Will

Dolphins

Description:

Dolphins have fins on their sides and on the back.  They are grey, white and black.  They breath out of their blow hole.

Diet:

They eat fish and sometimes squid.

By: Jasmine

Congratulations to 3A who had an amazing attendance rate for Week 5. Their attendance rate was 98% for the week!

Also, congratulations to the 4 classes which were at or above our school attendance target of 94% for Week 5.

Remember, every day you are away is a learning day lost.

We have had a fantastic start to the year in 2A! The class have been enjoying learning about different animals while learning to write information reports. This has also been linking to our Science unit where the students are exploring the life cycles of animals. It has been wonderful to hear the many discussions and ideas being shared amongst the class about lions, hyenas, rainbow lorikeets, koalas and green tree frogs so far.

During Maths we have been learning about rainbow facts and using these to solve multi-step problems as well as counting patterns. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at data where we will be creating and reading graphs.

During HASS we are focussing on changes to technology and how it has changed our lives. The students have enjoyed learning about how washing machines were used in the past and comparing them to our washing machines that we use today. Next week we will start looking at lawn mowers. This learning will build up throughout the semester until we visit the Calliope Historical Village to view olden day items with a special focus on how classrooms have changed over time.

2A have been enjoying our Resilience Project lessons. We especially enjoyed thinking about our DIS items (things we are grateful for) to add to our DIS wall. We realised we all have so many things to be grateful for every day with a special emphasis on our families and pets.

We have been incorporating lots of KAGAN brain breaks, discussion time and collaborative learning opportunities into our routines. The students are enjoying sharing and providing feedback to one another about their learning. It is amazing to hear the discussions they are having with one another to explain their learning.

Well done 2A! You are crushing it!

Hi everyone! We are very pleased to announce that size 10 and 12 school shirts are back in stock and are now available to order on QKR! As we endeavour to streamline our Uniform shop processes to improve efficiency for our volunteers and families alike; uniform orders will now be filled on Friday mornings only. The Uniform shop will continue to be open on Fridays 8:30-9:00am for QKR sales and order collections. Remaining orders will then be delivered to classrooms.

A few things to keep in mind and discuss with your children regarding Tuckshop orders;

· First break is the longer break

· Students need to collect frozen treats directly from the tuckshop with their brown lunch bag that has their order sticker on it.

· Please encourage your children to present to the Tuckshop with their brown lunch bag if something is missing from their order. This can be daunting for younger students so please assure your children that our Tuckshop volunteers aren’t scary!

Did you know we are part of the Drakes Community Dollars program? Remember when we used to have key tags to scan when we made purchases at Calliope Drakes Supermarket? Now you can download the myDrakes app to your smart phone, select Calliope SS to support through the Community Dollars program and scan your phone when you shop in store. What an easy way to help raise funds for our school!

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the team 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.

With school back, it's a timely reminder to drivers to slow down in school zones and pay attention at children’s crossings.

Coming back after holidays it can be easy to forget what to look out for. School zone signs are displayed as you approach the school and shows both the speed limit and the times you need to reduce your speed around the school. Childrens crossing are identified by children crossing flags, which are displayed near crossings before and after school hours.

When the crossing is supervised, you as a motorist must:

· wait until all pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders have crossed the road and the crossing supervisor has returned to the footpath

· abide by the direction given by the School Crossing Supervisor.

If the crossing is unsupervised, you as a motorist must:

· give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on or entering a children’s, pedestrian or marked foot crossings

· give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on or entering a road you’re turning into

· give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on a slip lane

· give way to pedestrians in a share zone

· travel at a speed allowing you to stop safely at a crossing if needed

As a driver, it's important to make sure you give way to all pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders such as skateboards, e-scooters. You must also give way to pedestrians using a motorised mobility device such as a motorised wheelchair or a mobility scooter.

Some of our most vulnerable road users are children getting to and from school, so it’s important to slow down and abide by the crossing rules, as it won’t make much difference to the trip time, but it could very well save lives.

Visit the Street Smarts website to find more information about what to do at pedestrian and children crossings.