Welcome to Week Nine. Students are now completing their assessments and we have parent/caregiver interviews next Tuesday. This will give teachers and parents/caregivers an opportunity to see how their children are performing in their new grade levels for 2025 and where support may be needed. Next week we are looking forward to our cross country and Easter Bonnet Parade. I am excited to see all the amazing creations our students come up with for their bonnet.

Equity and Excellence

Bullying prevention and support

• New bullying prevention and support web pages are now available on the Education website: gov.au/preventstudentbullying
• The webpages contain information for:
  • Students
  • Schools and educators
  • Parents and the community

• The website has tips for parents and the community on:
  • How to get help
  • What to do if you're being bullied
  • Helping a friend who’s being bullied
  • If someone calls you a bully
  • Cyberbullying
  • Bullying No Way has worked with First Nations academics and educators to curate culturally responsive, evidence-informed and culturally responsive bullying prevention resources for schools, students and parents/carers.
  • The resources can help First Nations students feel respected and heard while providing resources for non-Indigenous students to better understand the lived experiences of their peers.
  • Information for families and carers is also available to help support their children and young people in dealing with bullying: https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/resources/first-nations

Calliope students have had a healthy start to the year with a term full of healthy learning.

Prep students have been playing safely, learning about active and calm activities and locations for each.

Year 5 and 6 students are learning about drink options. There has been a lot of health information to decipher. It was impressive how the students worked together to make light work of sorting out the facts.

Working together has been the best achievement of students in Health this term. I can’t wait to see what the teams achieve next term!

PBL Lesson this week

This week we are focusing on speaking respectfully by using kind words. Students will make a bucket for their ‘bucket fillers’ to go into that they get from other people. This teaches the students the value that saying and receiving kind things does to our wellbeing. At home saying kind words to each other around the dinner table is a great idea to encourage this behaviour. For example, “What is something you love about a person in your family?”

GEM focus this week

The focus this week is What have you done to help out at home or school this week? How did it make you feel? This is another way to show empathy.

End of Term Celebration – Teddy Bears’ Picnic

We have completed our goal of 20 Whole Class Stamp Charts. Our teddy bears’ picnic will be going ahead with a nude food lunch for all students being provided by the school. Come along for a fantastic morning.

Positive Behaviour Data

Action Type	End of Term 1 2024	End of Week 8  Term 1 2025
Positive Behaviour	556 records	675 records
Awards (Teacher Aide Certificate, Cool Kid Certificate, Classroom Cool Kid, Principal’s Award)	177 awards	150 awards
Good News Letter	89 letters	98 letters
Contact Home (Positive email home, positive phone call home, e-postcard)	42 contacts home	52 contacts home

Week 8 Attendance Data

Congratulations to the winning class Prep C who had an amazing attendance rate for Week 8. Their attendance rate was 98.09% for the week!

Remember, every day you are away is a learning day lost. The school goal is to reach 94% or higher.

Cross Country- Monday Week 10

Just a reminder Cross Country is coming up in Week 10. Mrs Betts is holding Running Club on the back oval on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings (8:30am) in preparation for this. On the day, there will be age champion medals for 9,10,11 and 12-year old students. Students that are 10,11 or 12-year-old who place in the top five with a suitable time will get the opportunity to compete at the Port Curtis Cross Country Trials on Wednesday 7^th May, 2025 (Term 2, Week 3) at Benaraby State School. For Port Curtis trials, all runners must be able to complete their distance without walking.

We are looking for volunteers to man checkpoints on the day. If you have completed the school’s mandatory training and would like to volunteer your time please email Cathy Betts (cbett49@eq.edu.au). 

Please make sure your child is wearing appropriate footwear on the day, and packs their hat and their water bottle. 

Our Year 2 students, Riley and Jensen have been making a splash in the pool lately. The boys competed at the Gladstone South Novice Meet on the weekend competing against rising competitors from Central Queensland. Our boys won gold, silver, and bronze in their races. What an amazing achievement. Well done boys!