Rosella Park School provides a supportive, challenging environment where we are actively engaged in learning to reach our potential in leading a fulfilling life within the community.

Visit us at http://rosellapkspecs.eq.edu.au

As I sit and reflect on the 2017 school year, from my

AMAZING new office, in our AMAZING new

administration block, I smile thinking about the

challenges our staff and students have overcome, and

the successes we have all shared within the school.

We continue to see amazing results in Literacy, so it is

safe to say that our Balanced Literacy pedagogy (the 4

blocks literacy framework) is here to stay. We have

also been supported by some experts in the field of

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

this year, and we continue to refine our skills in

modelling the use of AAC across the school. When you

walk through the school now it is so exciting to see

how many students have a voice through access to a

robust communication system. And these are just a

couple of examples to illustrate how focused we are on

allowing our students to be as independent as possible.

Last week schoolwide moderation took place. Where

teachers gathered to moderate student work in

preparation for reporting. It is an amazing effort and

achievement that we have every Prep-10 student

tracked on the Australian Curriculum and the years 11

and 12 students tracked through the QCIA system.

When the teachers got together to moderate they

participated in professional conversations, examined

student evidence and agreed on an overall grade for

each student in the areas identified in their Individual

Curriculum Plans (ICPs). I was involved in a few of

these conversations, and I was so proud of the

professional rigorous conversations that took place

amongst the students across the school.

Report Cards

Reports will be sent home via post by the end of the

school year. This is a great opportunity to reflect on

how your child is progressing with their learning.

Please remember that development in learning for our

students can be quite slow, and we need to celebrate

the small steps, remembering each small step does

eventually lead to a milestone achievement.

We have, without hesitation, raised expectations of

learning in classrooms, which I believe is a really

positive thing. Please remember the A-E scale is a

mandated scale that all schools have to use within

Education Queensland. When reading your child’s

report, it is the story about their learning that is more

important than the grade assigned. I feel it’s important

that we focus on the individual learning journey for a

student in comparison to what they achieved in their

last semester of work.

P&C Christmas Party

Hard to believe it’s that time again –

but yes, it’s true, it’s almost time for

Santa to pay us a visit at Rosella Park

School!!

The P&C would like to invite all of our families to

gather at Rosella Park School on Thursday the 30th of

November between 5:00 pm - 7:00pm for our annual

Family Christmas Party!!

There will be food and fun on offer for all! Please come

along and help us celebrate 2017! Be sure to check

your child’s communication book for more details

coming out soon!

November 2017 Newsletter No. 11

20 Park Street � PO Box 1145 � Gladstone Q 4680 *

Telephone: 07 4976 8333 � Fax: 07 4976 8300 � Email: the.principal@rosellapkspecs.eq.edu.au

Newsletter

End of Year Concert

The end of year concert will be held on Tuesday the

5th of December. As you are all aware, this is a

fantastic morning, and a great opportunity for us to

celebrate the achievements of all of our students.

Please mark the date in your calendar, and I look

forward to seeing you all there!

I am looking forward to catching up with all of you at

these 2 social events!!

Thanks,

Kate Russ

Principal

CUA Fun Run Sponsorship Forms

Although our fun run has been postponed until early

next year, the sponsorship forms and prize claims are

valid for this year only. You have 2 options that you

can choose from:

• If you have done any fundraising you can

return your prize claim form and money to the

office by Thursday 17th November at the very

latest so prizes can be returned before the end

of term.

OR

• Keep the money you have raised, and you can

use the money to add to the new forms that

we will issue in 2018. There will be a new list of

prizes for 2018 as well.

We are very sorry for the confusion. Had we known

that we would not have the oval available, we would

not have sent home the forms. It is an event that the

students love so we do sincerely want to keep the

tradition going. The event will definitely be held in

term 1 next year!

Christmas Film Festival

The school has been given a number of FREE movie

tickets by the Rotary Club of South Gladstone for the

annual film festival at the Gladstone Cinema on

Saturday 16th December. If you would like tickets for

your family to attend the cinema free of charge, please

contact Dee at the office. Please note that due to the

limited number of tickets available, it will be on a “first

served” basis. It is unknown which movie will be

screened on the day but it is recommended as suitable

for the ages of 4 and up.

Absences

In the case of an emergency, it is a requirement of the

Department of Education and Training that parents

are able to be contacted by the school. If for any

reason you will be unavailable on any day, the school

must be advised of an alternative emergency contact.

All absences must be communicated to the school

office. If your child is sick please TELEPHONE THE

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION OFFICE ON 4976 8333. The

school’s answering machine is turned on after hours so

parents/carers are able to leave a message.

Alternatively; a note in the communication book to the

teacher can be passed on to Admin. Please do not use

DOJO app to communicate absences, as the class

teacher is not always able to pass on the message if

they are not at the school on that day. All unexplained

absences will be followed up by the school by SMS text

message and you can reply to this message. If your

child is absent for more than 3 consecutive days

without explanation, the class teacher will telephone

the parent and a medical certificate must be provided

on your child’s return to school.

Late Arrivals and Early Departures

No student is allowed to leave the school grounds

without first being signed out in the Student

Movement Book at the office, if they are leaving

before our official finish time of 2.45pm. If your child is

late arriving to school they must also be signed in to

the school grounds using the Student Movement book.

Any person other than the parent picking up students

MUST sign the student in and out at the office and

carry their identification to show to office staff.

All parents/carers must firstly report to the office

before picking your child up during school hours.

Please do not go directly to the class room as it is very

disruptive for other students.

Closure of BPAY

Parents are advised that the BPAY option shown on

invoices is no longer available. The decision to remove

this option is due to the ongoing confusion around

payments made in this manner. When using BPAY all

payments are applied to the oldest outstanding invoice

on record for your student e.g. if you made a payment

for swimming and you had an outstanding invoice for

PCYC, your payment would automatically have been

credited to the PCYC invoice. Please do not continue to

use the BPAY option. The preferred option of payment

is BPOINT or cash.

Payment of Outstanding Accounts

Please pay ALL outstanding accounts by the end of

November. If you are experiencing difficulty financially

and would like to discuss a payment plan, please

contact Julie in the office on 49768333 to make an

appointment.

Here are some upcoming events so

pop it on your fridge as a reminder.

Event Date

Year 12 Graduation Wednesday 22nd November @

Harvey Road Tavern

P&C Christmas Party Thursday 30th November

End of Year Accounts

to be finalised by:-

Friday 1st December

School Concert Tuesday 5th December

Our PBL lessons are taught around our 3 school rules of

SAFE, POSITIVE AND RESPECT and we have

been learning our words of the week. This term we are

focussing on the following items:

Week 6: Be sun safe, wear a broad brimmed hat and

sun safe clothing

Week 7: Speak respectfully to others and treat others

the way you would like to be treated

Week 8: Be in the right place at the right time

Week 9: Return equipment to the appropriate place

Keep passage ways clear at all times

Carry items safely

Week 10: Revision of previous lessons

Our words of the week for this month are:

WHAT, MAKE, UP & DOWN, MAKE

Room 2/3

Despite the rain playing havoc with our camp plans we

still managed to have a totally amazing time. The

students loved sleeping over in the classroom and

bowling was a highlight for all! We all loved our

morning at East Shores playing on the equipment and

having morning tea then a quick stop for some

delicious gelato. YUMMM. We got our bounce on at

Tiggers Bounce House and both the adults and

students definitely slept well that night. For some of us

it was our first time having a sleep over away from

home and despite a few nerves we all coped really well

and made some amazing memories! A BIG thanks to

Miss Russ for being our bus driver while on camp and

making our bus trips nothing but fun!! With only 5

weeks to go there are lots of exciting things happening

in our room. We are really looking forward to all of our

families joining us for room 2/3’s family day out on the

29th November. The students are very excited to show

off all of the great work they have done this year. We

hope to see everyone there.

Room 6, Room 8 and Room 9 (Senior Cohort)

We had a great time at school camp. The fun began

with a visit to the Botanical Gardens where some

students saw a chimpanzee for the first time.

Boomerang throwing was an experience at Dreamtime

Centre. Ms Corralie threw above and beyond, leaving

everyone in awe. Students and staff overcame fears

and challenged themselves with caving and climbing

activities. A big thanks to Charlies Aunty Bronny and

the Yeppoon Council for arranging for the water to be

turned on at the Kraken foreshores water park.

We were super impressed by the great manners and

behaviour of our students. They were especially

helpful and supportive of each other when some

students were not feeling confident about the

Adventure Caving.

It provided fantastic writing opportunities for the

students once

we returned. We

all agreed we

would like to go

there again.

Room 10 and Room 11 (Intermediate)

The students are doing well in maintaining their

enthusiasm even though the end of term is

approaching. Students have worked hard all year and

this is evident in their work. As the last of assessment

is wrapping up, students are beginning to get ready for

the Christmas concert. Students are also exploring

options for Christmas craft and present making. During

these weeks as well, we get more of a chance to work

on social and personal skills. Bring on the next few

weeks!

Room 12

Communication has continued to be our focus in Room

12 with student progress occurring in leaps and bounds.

I am pleased to report our Christmas Concert

preparations are coming along. Ho, ho, ho! Presently

we are organising costuming – students have

completed colouring in their masks in colours of their

choice and laminating has also been finished. No more

information is forthcoming because we don’t want to

spoil the surprise – we want you sitting on the edge of

your seats when we entertain you at the concert! Of

note, a visiting Occupational Therapist has made

observations of Rm 12 students with the goal to better

meet their sensory needs so that learning can be

maximised in our classroom. This visit has been a

highly valuable experience. Indeed we are looking

forward to receiving additional information to build on

what we’ve learned so far and feeling very grateful for

being given this opportunity. See you at the Christmas

Concert!

Room 13

Christmas is nearly upon us and it won't be long and

we will be transitioning to the next year level. For the

next few weeks we are busy gathering all our evidence

ready for reporting. The students have been very busy

completing assessment and being movie stars while I

gather all our data. I am very impressed with how

much everyone has improved this year. It has been a

delight to watch them flourish. Ms Ashley has settled

in Perth and has been relaxing while watching the

dolphins from her veranda. Ms Leah and Ms Anet has

settled in well to room 13. Ms Leah works with us 5

days a week and Ms Anet joins us 4 days a week. We

are busy thinking about our Christmas Concert and

what we will perform this year. Keep an eye on

communication books and Dojo for further information.

We will also be having a break up day at the splash

zone closer to the end of term so stay tuned for that as

well �. Or focus is still on our 4 blocks program so

keep sending in those alphabet objects each week!

Transition Cohort (Room 7, Room 14, Room 15)

This term has been off to an amazing start for the

transition cohort. 15 of our students came to camp for

a week, staying in Noosa and exploring the sunshine

coast. The remaining 5 students had a lovely time in

Gladstone for the week taking advantage of our local

assets.

The week at camp: We drove down to the Sunshine

Coast on Monday, having a fun play at Childers on the

way. When we arrived at the caravan park in Noosa we

swam in the beautiful swimming pool and enjoyed

pizza for dinner. On the Tuesday we woke up and

made breakfast and then we all made our lunches

(great learning for the students to make their own

salad rolls). We played at a playground in Nambour,

then went to the Bellingham Hedge Maze and mini golf,

finishing the day with a sunset cruise. The students

worked well together to overcome the challenge of

finding the way through the hedge maze, and cheered

each other on through the mini golf. Wednesday

started with us all packing our own lunches again, then

some students went to the Wildlife HQ zoo and others

to the Bli Bli Aqua Park. The students at the zoo got to

get close and personal with many animals and even

feed some wallabies. At the aqua park students tested

their swimming skills and their physical skills

negotiating their way across many obstacles. The

laughter and squeals spoke for itself as students

thoroughly enjoyed it, from going down big slides to

jumping off giant swings it was a real adventure. We

finished Wednesday in a relaxed way with shopping,

dinner and a movie at the Sunshine Plaza. Thursday

was another day of adventure with a tour of the Ginger

Factory, a lesson about Bees as part of Super Bee, a

train ride and an Overboard Boat Ride, then shopping

at the Ginger Factory. We continued on to Strawberry

Fields and picked and ate strawberries, had a sausage

sizzle and some strawberry ice cream. Students then

got another learning experience and cooked a BBQ

dinner. Friday we drove home again and the students

enjoyed playing in Gympie then again in Childers.

The week at school:

For those students who did not go to camp, well they

had a great time too. They got to spend time at East

Shores relaxing, going to the beach, watching a movie

at the cinema, going shopping in Stockland shopping

centre, doing some delicious cooking and going to the

library. The students had a lot of fun in the local area.

Staffing

Since then we have said goodbye to Miss Catford and

hello to Miss Craze in Room 7. Room 14 have

welcomed a new student and Logan even won super

hero of the week in his first week at Rosella!

Graduation

Our graduating students are getting ready for their big

night on Wednesday 22nd November and it is sure to

be an amazing night for all! We ask that all guests

arrive at the Tavern by 5:30 pm to greet the graduating

students. If you have not already organised your tickets,

please contact the office. Tickets cost $36.00 per

person (graduating student is free). All attending

students must be accompanied by an adult.

Parent to Parent information

RESEARCH:

Do you support an adult with intellectual disability to

make decisions?

· As the NDIS rolls out people with intellectual

disability and their families should have more choices

about the services they receive and greater control

over their own lives.

· Effective support for decision making is

increasingly important for people with intellectual

disability

· More about the project and how to participate.

Please click on the link for further information

Flyer for the Decision Making Project (Intellectual

Disability Participants) [PDF, 572kb]

EVENTS:

Cent Sale Biloela

Where: Anzac Memorial Club

When: Sunday 26 November, 2:00 pm onwards

Who: Endeavour Foundation

Fees: Entry $3.00 + free afternoon tea

Raffle and special cake draws: $2.00 a sheet each

Tickets: $5.00 sheets

NDIS pre planning, Support Coordination + Plan

Management

Where: P2P office, Gladstone Community Hub, 5 Buller

Street

When: ongoing + numerous dates,

Who: Parent to Parent Team

Contact: bookings essential pearl@p2pqld.org.au

NDIS Readiness Group

Where: Leo Zussino Building, CQU or contact through

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164859990849111

0/

QDN (Queenslanders with Disability Network)

What: organising a workshops to assist people

preparing to transition to the NDIS

When: November

Fees: Entry $3.00 + free afternoon tea

STEPS (Skills to Enable People & Communities)

What: a free program for adults aged 18 to 65 years

who have an acquired Brain Injury, stroke or sustained

a Traumatic Brain Injury and their families and carers

When: 6 weeks on Thursdays between 10am and

12noon (starts 26th October)

Where: Gladstone Community Health Service

Engaging Adolescents Program

What: To assist parents resolve difficult behaviour in

children 10 years +

When: from 5.30 to 7.30pm (starts 30th October)

Where: Neighbourhood Centre, 105 Toolooa Street,

Gladstone

Register: 4972 8203 or

email projectsc4c@gapdl.com.au.

Christmas in the City in Gladstone

What: Christian Churches of Gladstone

When: Sunday, 17th December

Where: Entertainment & Convention Centre precinct

Contact: Gladstone Baptist Church, Gladstone Salvos,

Lifestyle Church, Port City Church or Shed 19.

Interagency Meeting Event Summary:

· Gladstone Employment & Information Forum, 22nd

November

· White Ribbon Day, 25th November

· Social Inclusion Week, 25th November to 3rd

December

· International Day of People with a Disability, 3rd

December

· International Volunteers Day, 5th December

· Christmas in the City, 17th December.

Did you know?

Community Advisory Service, Gladstone Regional

Council

· Gladstone Regional Supported Transport Service –

Transport will still be available to people under 65 who

do not receive NDIS funding.

Parent to Parent head office is closed from

18th December 2017 to 15th January 2018.

We will have skeleton staff between the 22nd

December and 3rd January.

Please contact finance@p2pqld.org.au to discuss any

arrangements for paying invoices over this time.

"To deliver a quality service to people who have a

disability by listening, respecting and supporting their

goals"