School Contact Details: Telephone: 41336333 Student Absence Line: 4133 6366 Fax: 4157 6338 Email: admin@wallavilless.eq.edu.au

WALLAVILLE NEWS

Thank you to our parents who have been completing the Learning @ Home resources from their teachers. Thank you to those parents and students who have consistently checked in with their teachers each day to say they are working. It is quite a big job to get the attendance register accurate each day with those who are present at school, those who are working from home, some students being ill some days, etc. I am required to send numbers to the Department each day for those present at school, then we need the attendance in OneSchool updated daily with those who are learning from home. If we have not heard from parents or students by 11:30am each morning, absence notifications are required to be sent home and those parents are required to reply with either “working from home” or “ill”, dependent upon the circumstances. During this time, we have seen approximately one third of students attending school and two thirds learning from home. This will all change next Monday, after the announcement from the Premier on Monday with Preps and Year 1 students being transitioned back to school. Parents still have the option to keep their Prep & Yr 1 students home if they feel that this is the best for them and their family. Those students will continue to learn using materials already supplied by Mrs Janke and the Learning @ Home resources supplied by the Department. We are hoping that, on Monday 25th May, we will see all year levels return to school.

Dates to Remember

May Monday 11th – Prep & Year 1 students come back to school

Monday 25th – Yrs 2-6 back to school? (to be confirmed)

June

Monday 15th – Wallaville Cross Country, High Jump & 800m events (to be confirmed)

Monday 22nd - Wallaville Athletics carnival (to be confirmed)

Wednesday, 6 May

2020

We are Safe

We are

Responsible

We are

Respectful

This is the

Wallaville Way

School Contact Details: Telephone: 41336333 Student Absence Line: 4133 6366 Fax: 4157 6338 Email: admin@wallavilless.eq.edu.au

Welcome back to Term 2. Our classrooms are rather empty and we are missing you all. Some of us are learning at home and some of us are learning at school- we are all doing a fantastic job. A big thank-you to those who are sending in photos and sharing all that you

have been doing. It is great to see and share those photos with our classmates. You will have seen on our ed.Studio page that we now have a photo page. I update that regularly as a way of sharing and seeing what each other are doing. Our vegetable garden is growing and our pumpkins are getting bigger each day- I think they are now bigger than a basketball!! I wonder how big they will be when we all come back to school??? We have been busy learning about materials in science and we made paper with Mrs Coward. It was very messy but a lot of fun!! Evie made pink paper by adding red crepe paper into her messy mixture. We used shredded paper and mixed it with water, then we pressed it flat into mesh trays . We pressed it down flat with wooden blocks and then put it into the sun to dry. It was an interesting experiment to see how paper can be made.

Make sure you check out our “Learning @ Home” page for photos of our students and what they are doing while doing their school work from home.

Here are some photos of our

learning to share with you all.

School Contact Details: Telephone: 41336333 Student Absence Line: 4133 6366 Fax: 4157 6338 Email: admin@wallavilless.eq.edu.au

Well what a different way to start Term 2! Our classroom is a lot quieter and not to mention a little sadder. I have to send a big shout out to all the students who are working at home and their study buddies (aka mum or dad), you are all doing an amazing job of completing work and staying on task. There is no doubt it is a difficult job and you are all smashing it out. It has been wonderful to see, (via photos sent in) some of the student’s workspaces and creations which students and parents have created. This week in Science we will continue to look at the properties of materials. While in English we are all busy creating our own cereal box and will then produce our own advertisement, to encourage others to buy the product. Year 3 Maths revolves around adding and subtracting three digit numbers and Year 4 Maths investigates multiplying and dividing. By the sounds of it we may be back together in week 6, fingers crossed this occurs. In the meantime, keep up the good work Year 3/4 and remember ….

Make sure you check out our “Learning @ Home” page for photos of our students and what they are doing while doing their school work from home.

Well it was a bit of a shaky start to our on-line learning… with networks down and sites crashing on the very first day!! Things got better on Tuesday with students able to log in and begin their lessons on the computer. They had fun getting used to blogging and talking about their day. At the end of the first week, we were joined by Tennessee who is in Year 6. Girls were VERY excited to have another female in the class Tennessee comes to us from Dysart in North Queensland and is settling in very well. We have been pushing on with our Science experiments, looking at Matter and how it can change state. We cannot wait for everyone to be back together again… hoping for week 6!!! Make sure you check out our “Learning @ Home” page for photos of our students and what they are doing while doing their school work from home.

School Contact Details: Telephone: 41336333 Student Absence Line: 4133 6366 Fax: 4157 6338 Email: admin@wallavilless.eq.edu.au

ANZAC Day It was a very strange lead up to ANZAC Day indeed, with students unable to gather in groups and unable to visit the Cenotaph. As a school we visited our front fence one class at a time and decorated it with student work to let the Service men and women of our community, both past and present, know that we were thinking of them. Pictured are our school captains, Georgia and Joseph in front of our small display. We are hoping that we will be able to commemorate Remembrance Day in a more formal manner in November. Keep it in your diary for a ceremony at school. Fingers crossed. Transport assistance now online Online applications for the School Transport Assistance Scheme (STAS) are now available for your school. STAS is provided by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to support eligible students who travel to and from school by rail, bus, ferry or private transport, where access to education is impeded by distance, income or isolation. The online application replaces multiple paper forms (depending on the type of assistance sought), making the application process more convenient for parents, guardians and independent students. Further information about STAS, eligibility and online applications, including a short video explaining how the new online application works, is available at: www.qld.gov.au/schooltransportassistance.

Till next time,

Kerry Inskip Principal

PBL : Focus of the week Last week we sent out a presentation about how parents can harness the power of PBL in their homes during this time and when it is all over. Positive reinforcement is always the best and easiest way to make behavioural changes and have them stick. We encourage all families to decide on the expectations of their home and create a matrix defining what that looks like in their own situation. Students who are working at home, can earn points for our reward system at school to be rewarded at end of term. At school each week we focus on a skill that we want to encourage in our classrooms and the

playground. This week we are looking at the skill of “tidying up”. Students should be held responsible for their own work area and cleaning up after themselves at the end of a work session. Their desks (and rooms) should be kept tidy and organised at all times. This is very important and goes hand in hand with last week’s skill of “organising yourself”. A disorganised student is not ready to learn and therefore will not gain the most from each lesson. Next week we will be looking at the skill of “managing time”. This is especially important during this time of home learning. The more organised and focussed a student is on their learning and being able to pace themselves through a lesson, the more quickly it will be finished and the more time that student will have for themselves. Managing time in the home is also important so that the family time is not eaten into with unfinished school work. Students need to set aside time in a day for school work, jobs/chores/ family time and leisure time (doing something they enjoy).

School Contact Details: Telephone: 41336333 Student Absence Line: 4133 6366 Fax: 4157 6338 Email: admin@wallavilless.eq.edu.au

Use your Strengths

There’s no denying all of our lives have changed dramatically in the past few weeks, and increased worry and anxiety is only natural in such uncertain times. Before the pandemic, one in five Aussies experienced mental ill-health every year, so it’s a good reminder to us all of the importance of protecting and managing our health at this time. “I think there are a number of concerns - people are worried about the infection, many people have lost their jobs and are facing financial problems, and there’s also been a huge disruption to our lives,” said Dr Grant Blashki, Lead Clinical Advisor from Beyond Blue. “We’re all sitting at home, working from home, or might have lost our job, with kids on top of us. So it’s been a huge change to our lives.” During challenging times, like now, as we deal with the coronavirus we need to call upon our strengths. Research shows that when we use our strengths we boost positive emotions – and when we do that, we feel more energy, more inspired, more favourably about life. In other words, strengths fuel us forward. Here are some ideas, aimed at zeroing in on ways we can intentionally use our strengths to help ourselves and those around us. Take a look at the list below. Try any of the suggestions for yourself. Share the list with family and friends. We have much to gain by combating this challenge with an infusion of our strengths.

W a y s t o U s e Y o u r S t r e n g t h s Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence : Go on a beauty hunt wherever you are. Look at or think of your favourite masterpiece – a painting, a building, a song, a garden, a flower, your dog’s eyes, your clean bathroom. Revel in the beauty and excellence! Whenever you need a boost, look around, or look within. Discover the awe. Love: Think about someone you care about. If possible, let them know you love them, now! Take time to write a note, give details about why you love this person and care about them. Deliver it to them, or read it to them. In return, when others are giving you love, kindness, accept it with an open heart — as you would want them to do with you! Creativity: Make something by hand today. Whether it is a meal or a birthday card, create something new. If ideas come easily to you, push yourself in a new direction. Right before you are about to do something, consider if there is a different way it can be done. Have fun with this approach. Filled with ideas? Consider this list of strengths and come up with more applications for yourself and others. Share them. Curiosity: What is something you have always wondered about? Make a list of your questions (get the whole family involved) and then dive in! Search for answers online, or better yet, ASK SOMEONE who might know the answer. Watch a documentary about something new to you. Feed your curious mind! Forgiveness: Take some time and think about this. Is there someone you are ready to forgive? If so, send them a note. If YOU are the one who needs self-forgiveness, this is a good time to give yourself props for the things you have done well, for trying hard to do what is right, for all the things you have done for others. It is important to give ourselves genuine love and care, too. Gratitude: What/Who are you SO grateful for today? What would you really miss if it were not around? Make a list – in writing or in your mind. Think about all of the people involved in getting you what you

School Contact Details: Telephone: 41336333 Student Absence Line: 4133 6366 Fax: 4157 6338 Email: admin@wallavilless.eq.edu.au

need. Take time to appreciate how many things we have that have been created and cared for by so many people working hard. Humility: Act for the action’s sake, not accolades. You work behind the scenes, keeping things running smoothly. What do you see that needs tending? Someone needing help who is afraid to ask? Find ways to help them get what they need with minimal exposure. Humour: People need to laugh and lighten up, even in heavy times! If humour and playfulness come naturally to you, you have a lot to offer others to help find some release. Share jokes, ask your friends or others in the community about their favourite comedies. Watch them. Play games, like Charades with the whole family, that get you moving. One of the benefits of learning to not take ourselves TOO seriously is laughter, which is GOOD for our bodies and our souls. Kindness: Is there someone in your house or neighbourhood who could use a little help? What can you do for them? Large or small. If no one comes to mind, try an anonymous gesture like allowing someone to go ahead of you in line at the petrol station. Leadership: Is it time for you to step up and take the lead? Are you good at guiding others to step out and take part? Whether at home, at work or in a public setting that calls for action (or calm) leaders are needed. “Be the change you want to see in the world,” said Gandhi. If you are in a position to lead, you can help others do what they need in these challenging times. Organise volunteer chains, facilitate open discussions, help others set and achieve goals. Share your tips with others. Celebrate team victories. Love of Learning: Do a deep dive into something you are passionate about. Learn more! (This is different than curiosity, which can jump from one thing to the next without judgement; this is diving into one topic and learning much more about it.) Perseverance: Is there a project or something else you have been meaning to finish? This is the time to devote to it! Set the timer and finish one of your items on your To-Do list. Or, if diligence is a natural strength of yours, combine this strength with kindness and help someone else finish their task! Perspective: Is there an area that you know well and feel confident sharing? Do you have insights or resources that might help others? Is there a forum where you can share your perspective with others? Find a place to share this experience and expertise with others who may benefit. You might also find some new people to share this interest with! Self-Regulation: This strength is one of the most challenging for many of us. Set reminders on your phone so you remember to do what is good for you like washing your hands, drinking plenty of water, meditating for stress relief. Be sure to add time for the things that feed your mind/body/soul to keep your entire being in good shape. Zest: Put your energy to use! Combine your pleasures. Choose a few of your favourite, songs, play them, dance! Ask others around you to do the same and have a happy dance party — gather, together on a video sharing platform like FaceTime or Zoom. Always take time to DO something that makes you feel good – that good feeling is contagious!

Remember

Creativity broadens our view of what is possible (builds hope)

Connections build community (strengthen bonds, combat loneliness)

Strengths build confidence and resilience (allow us to grow, inspire

and support others)

School Contact Details: Telephone: 41336333 Student Absence Line: 4133 6366 Fax: 4157 6338 Email: admin@wallavilless.eq.edu.au