Filter Content
Bullying NO WAY!
This Friday, 20 March 2020, Calliope State School will be sending the message loudly and clearly that we do not accept bullying. We would like to encourage all students to wear ORANGE on Friday. No donations are required…it’s the message that matters!
Further information, including the definition of bullying, can be found on the “Bullying No Way!” website. https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/WhatIsBullying/DefinitionOfBullying
Extended Learning Program
On Monday Calliope State School hosted students from the Gladstone cluster of schools for a Mathematics Challenge. Mrs Kettle and Miss Williams were very impressed with the Calliope students who participated, along with the efforts of the visiting students.
Year 6 Harbour Tour
Our Year 6 students recently participated in a Harbour Tour sponsored by the Gladstone Ports Corporation. As a school we thank them for providing this amazing learning opportunity for our students. The feedback we received about the conduct and behaviour of our Year 6 students (and their teachers) was very impressive.
Additional Measures COVID-19
The current COVID-19 is an evolving situation with the information constantly changing. As a school, we will be following the advice issued to us by the Department of Education. The current advice is that schools are open and therefore students should be attending.
Whilst we are aware that a number of families have chosen to commence self-isolation, the advice from the Department of Education is that these are to be recorded on our absences as ‘unauthorised’. The exception to this, is where there is a medical certificate from a health practitioner supporting the requirement to self-isolate, or when the categories for self-isolation apply from the Australian Government. We acknowledge that families may make a wide range of decisions at these times and encourage you to maintain open lines of communication with the school.We are promoting extra hygiene practices as we work to support all students, staff, parents and visitors to our school.
- All parades for the rest of the term have been cancelled. Instead, we will be providing parade announcements and awards to students via a video message.
- We will be reviewing our term calendar and any non-essential events will be cancelled. The school disco for this Thursday has been cancelled. We will provide regular updates via the newsletter and school Facebook page of activity changes.
- Students have received instruction on handwashing and on Monday watched a video clip on this.
- Our additional PBL Lesson on Monday focussed on ‘Catch It, Kill It, Bin It’.
- We have increased hand washing facilities (with soap and paper towelling) at the school with more of these being installed around the school in common areas. All classrooms with sinks, have hand soap.
- Signage around handwashing procedures have been increased around the school and common areas.
- Before eating times and toileting students are being encouraged to wash their hands.
- Students are encouraged to minimise physical contact in their interactions.
- Our cleaners are increasing their cleaning schedules.
- Where appropriate, teachers are adjusting curriculum activities.
We do encourage students to bring their own sanitiser/wipes for their personal use. Students should also bring a water bottle.
Importantly, if your child is sick, do not send them to school and seek medical support where appropriate.
We will be sharing announcement via emails home, the newsletter and our Facebook page. Another important site to follow is Queensland Health https://www.health.qld.gov.au/
We have attached to this newsletter the ‘Time Out’ poster for generalised illness, for your information.
This term in 4A, we have been learning about the different types of forces in Science. Students have been investigating the types of forces throughout multiple environments both inside and outside of our school.
Last week, 4A went on a scavenger hunt around the school to identify the different forces that we use every day. We walked through the whole school to find that the Year 3/4 playground had the different types of forces we had been learning. The students drew diagrams of the playground and labelled it with the correct force. This term our Science unit links up with Technology, in which 4A has to create their very own pinball machine. 4A will be working hard for the next two Mondays on their own pinball machines to have a class games day at the end of Term 1.
Congratulations to Prep B and 2D who had an amazing attendance rate for Week 7. Their attendance rate was 98% for the week! Also congratulations to the 16 classes which were at or above our school attendance target of 94% for Week 7. Remember, every day you are away is a learning day lost.
Wow… What an exciting morning we had of discussion and learning from each others experiences. Thankyou to Kayleen who shared some great words of wisdom and encouragement as we work on building ‘Confidence and Self-Esteem’ in our children (and of course ourselves!)
Some helpful tips
- Self-esteem is about liking yourself and who you are. ‘Believing in yourself!’
- For children, self-esteem comes from knowing that they’re loved and that they belong to a family and a community that values them. Tell your child that you love them!
- Encourage your child to value being part of your family. One way to do this is by involving your child in age-appropriate chores. When everyone contributes to the smooth running of the household, you all feel important and valued.
- Remember that we are our children’s greatest role models and teachers. Our children can be like little mirrors reflecting back at us our greatest weaknesses.
- We can grow confidence in our children by modelling confident behaviour ourselves. This may take some conscious effort and reflection on our own part.
- Our words are very powerful. Messages that say something negative about children are bad for their self-esteem – for example, ‘You are slow, naughty and a sook…’ When children do something you don’t like, it’s better to tell them what they could do instead. For example, ‘You haven’t done your homework. You need to sit down now and finish your maths questions’.
- How you think, effects how you feel, which leads to how you act or behave. In other words, You become what you think about!
A confident mindset is developed through ongoing guidance, conversations, encouragement and practice.
Enjoy the journey with your children, all too quickly they too will become adults!
Love to see you at our next Café Connect, Thursday 14th May 9.15am at Coffee Ink.
Last Thursday, we all enjoyed a morning cuppa at Café Connect discussing how to build confidence and self-esteem in our children. Keep an eye out for Café Connect returning next term. Come along and have a chat to Chappy Mel.
A total of $536.65 was raised last Friday during Crazy Hair Day. So many students supported Crazy Hair Day, which raises valuable funds for blood cancer. We saw many amazing hair styles, that were very creative, colourful and imaginative.
Calliope State School P&C
Welcome to Week 8 of Term One. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Melissa for her work as President and also everyone who attended our AGM. It was great to see some new faces. I am excited to announce our new executive committee: President - Tenielle, Vice president - Sian, Treasurer - Bec and Secretary - Kate. I look forward to working with the team on many upcoming ventures. Want to join us? We are always looking for new members to bring new points of view and new ideas. An online membership form is now available on our facebook page or the following link https://form.jotform.com/200541946956058?fbclid=IwAR03NTW5dcN5mJEOQt9jQJSqULyA3fhckAad8tvgHfC1JDZQpAoz9niE338 alternatively paper copies can be found in the office and returned to the P&C box.
We understand that with the current health situation people are concerned. Please rest assured that we are following all guidance provided to us from Education Queensland. Information can be found in the emailed updates and on both our Facebook page and Calliope State School Facebook page. Unfortunately we are unable to provide health advice.
Fundraising and Events
Disco Cancelled: Unfortunatlaty our school disco planned for this Thursday has been cancelled.
Easter Raffle: Chocolate, who doesn’t love chocolate? As we do every year, we will be holding an Easter raffle. For this raffle we ask our families to make a small donation of items towards our hampers. Please find our collection hampers in the office. Tickets for our raffle will be available next week.
Bake sale/Election BBQ: Are you a keen baker or know someone who is? Are you the BBQ King or the Grill master? We need you! The P&C will be holding a bake sale alongside our election day sausage sizzle on the 28th March. If you are interested in baking or volunteering on the day please contact us.
Tuckshop
Each week we have delicious home baked treats that you can order this week we have moist chocolate brownie. If you have a family favourite treat that you would like us to share with our school family please let us know.
We are getting busier and busier in the tuckshop, meaning our awesome convenor Lisa needs a hand. As with all of our P&C events and operations, the tuckshop is always looking for volunteers. If you are interested in socialising, having a cuppa and even helping Lisa out please pop past the tuckshop or contact us via facebook.
Uniform shop
Our uniform shop is open Tuesday mornings from 8.15 – 8.45 for all your uniform needs or order on flexischools and orders will be sent to your child’s classroom. If you have any queries regarding orders, please contact our P&C via Facebook, email uniformshop.calliopess@gmail.com or phone/message Tenielle on 0406218312.
Have a great week
Your P&C team
Tenielle, Sian, Bec and Kate
Dear Parents and Carers,
At Calliope State School we aim to create a safe and supportive school community for everyone.
Sometimes, it can be difficult for parents or carers to know what to do when their child talks to them about bullying.
You are an important part of our work to prevent bullying and to respond effectively if it happens. Stopping bullying involves everyone.
If your child talks to you about bullying:
1. Listen calmly and get the full story. Your calm response is important to allow your child to tell you all about the situation. After they’ve told you their story, ask questions to get more details if you need to: who, what, where, when. Although you may feel some strong emotions about your child’s experience, try to keep calm to avoid more distress to your child.
2. Reassure your child they are not to blame. Many children blame themselves and this may make them feel even worse. You could say things like, ‘That sounds really hard to deal with. No one should have to put up with that.’ or ‘I’m so glad you told me. You should be able to feel safe at school; that’s not fair at all’.
3. Ask your child what they want to do and what they want you to do. A critical part of your response is to avoid jumping in to solve the problem. While it is natural to want to protect your child, helping them to find their own solution is a better option. It helps them feel they have some power in the situation.
4. Visit www.bullyingnoway.gov.au to find some strategies. The website has tips and ideas for different bullying situations. One idea is to practise strategies at home to help your child feel more confident.
5. Contact the school. Your child may be reluctant for you to do this, so discuss the idea and reassure them that the school would want to know and is able to help. Make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher and, if you need to, ask to talk with the principal. Contact the school immediately if you have a concern about your child’s safety.
6. Check in regularly with your child. Keep the conversation going. It can take time to resolve issues, so check in regularly with your child about their experiences and their feelings. Your ongoing support is important.
At Calliope State School we want to maintain a culture in the school where students are actively engaged in the curriculum and are provided with interesting ways to learn; where they feel cared for by school staff and develop a sense of belonging to the school; and where teachers know them well, build on their strengths and encourage them to persist with tasks until they succeed. Our Whole School Positive Behaviour Support Plan ensures that teachers, parents and students are partners in maintaining our culture of ‘it is ok to tell’. Our teachers use a range of social skills programs to enhance students’ understanding of bullying but more importantly how to build and maintain effective relationships. We focus on building positive relationships to reduce negative social behaviour and ‘bullying’.
If you are looking for support for yourself to deal with a bullying situation, you will find ideas on the Bullying. No Way! website for parents.
As a school we are taking part in Bullying No Way Day on 20 March. Thanks for your support to make our school a great school for everyone.
Purple Day
Each year we take part in Purple Day in March and do our best to raise awareness and funds so that we can continue to help Australians with epilepsy no matter where they are. Purple Day is a global effort dedicated to raising epilepsy awareness. Epilepsy affects over 50 million people worldwide or approximately 1 in 100 people.
Calliope State School has registered online and if you are able to donate please follow the following link; www.epilepsy.org.au .
PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO CURRENT HEALTH ADVISE REGARDING CORONA VIRUS - THE SELLING OF CUPCAKES ON THURSDAY HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
Make every step count and help create a world where no-one on the autism spectrum is left behind.
The 2nd April is Autism Awareness Week and to kick start this awareness, Calliope State School has registered for the challenge of 10,000 steps a day for 8 days? Don’t just talk the talk, walk the Walk for Autism!
Walk for autism is a free virtual walking event, which means you can do it at your own pace, in your own time. It starts on 29th March – 5th April 2020. You can go solo, or get your friends, family and workmates on board and step it out together in a team.
Raise much-needed funds and help provide the best opportunities for people on the autism spectrum to participate, engage and thrive in the world around them.
Register Now for the 2020 Walk for autism and any donations can be made by clicking the following link; https://www.walkforautism.org.au/fundraisers/calliopestateschool