10th May 2019

Week 3, Term 2 Page 1

Week 5, Term 3 Newsletter | 14th August 2020

School Priority – Literacy

Last Tuesday afternoon, teachers attended a twilight professional development session focused on our school priority of Literacy. One of the key priorities in our Annual Implementation Plan is the implementation of our school Literacy Plan. The Australian Curriculum tells us that literacy learning is the foundation of all curriculum based learning and that literacy skills are essential to develop the ability to interact effectively with others, and to be successful at school and in life beyond school.

At Woody Point Special School, we believe that literacy is more than just learning to read and write. We see literacy as the ability to:

access and understand all types of information

make meaning of the world around us

express thoughts, ideas and emotions

interact effectively with others.

Our Literacy framework has been developed to encompass the literacy learning needs of ALL students including those students at the earliest level of communication development. We have identified three ‘pathways’ to literacy with distinct cohorts of learners – Inclusive, Emergent and Conventional literacy learners. Within each of these pathways, students engage in the three elements of literacy – Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing, and Writing. At the earliest levels of literacy learning (Inclusive Literacy) students engage in learning the fundamentals of communication, exploring how to make marks and experience enjoyment of a range of stories and texts. At the next stage, Emergent Literacy, the learning focus is on further developing communication, learning about how books and stories work and beginning to learn about letters, sounds and words. The final stage, Conventional Literacy is when students begin to engage in more formal instruction around literacy and that includes sight words, letter-sound association (phonics), learning to write and developing reading fluency and comprehension skills.

If you have any questions about what literacy learning looks like for your child or about how the literacy program is delivered, please feel free to contact your class teacher or our Deputy Principal, Kim.

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10th May 2019

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14th August 2020 Week 5, Term 3 Page 2

Student Code of Conduct – Disciplinary Consequences

In my last newsletter, I mentioned that we are working through the development of a new “Student Code of Conduct” which will outline the school’s approach to managing and supporting student behaviour. A focus on disciplinary consequences is one of the areas within the code of conduct.

Often when we talk about behaviour, we tend to think about consequences and what consequence is needed to stop an inappropriate behaviour from oc-curring again. When considering our response to an inappropriate behaviour, it is important to ask ourselves, what is the purpose of a consequence? Is it to make the child suffer or feel sorry for their actions? Is it to send a signal to others that bad behaviour will not be tolerated? Or, is it intended to correct and teach? Within the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) approach, teachers understand that consequences alone are insufficient to change behaviour. Often, there can be a misunderstanding about the purpose of consequences, with a common perception that problem behaviour should be countered by an increasing level of sanctions or punishments. However, consequences which do not include a teaching component, and do not address the underlying function of a behaviour, are unlikely to work, and, worse, can lead to increasing levels of problem behaviour and a breakdown in relationships. At Woody Point Special School, we believe that proactively teaching appropriate behaviours and teaching students how to change their behaviour when needed is the best way to address negative behaviours. If you would like more information about our school’s approach to addressing unproductive or inappropriate behaviour please give me a call.

COVID-19 Conditions

As the term progresses, we continue to operate under a number of COVID19 conditions and operating guidelines including limiting the access of adults to the general school grounds, asking children and staff to stay at home if they are at all unwell and continuing with physical distancing, hand washing and additional cleaning procedures. The Department of Education continues to update us on any procedural changes based on the most current advice from the Chief Health Officer and we continue to monitor, review and update our processes accordingly. This is also a good time to remind parents to update your contact details if they change. In the event of an emergent school closure our first contact would likely be by SMS and email so it is very important that we have the most up to date phone numbers and email addresses for all of our families. Thank you to all families for your ongoing co-operation and support in keeping our school community safe and healthy during this time.

School Events

Term 3 is usually a time when we enjoy participating in a number of whole school events including NAIDOC Week, Book Week and our Warrior Challenge. Most of these events have been postponed until Term 4 in the hope that we may be able to invite parents to join us in these celebrations should restrictions ease. We’ll keep you informed about any future plans for these events as we are able to confirm dates.

Until next time,

Bronwyn

10th May 2019

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14th August 2020 Week 5, Term 3 Page 3

Positive Behaviour for Learning (P4BL)

Hi Everyone My name is Pel and I am the Woody Point Special School P4BL mascot.

My job is to help students with the 3 whole school expectations of:

I CAN BE A LEARNER

I CAN BE SAFE

I CAN BE RESPECTFUL

Each fortnight on Parade I help hand out the awards for the students who have been displaying the whole school expectations.

I also choose one student from each sector of the school who has been working really hard to receive the prestigious Golden Pelican Award.

The Golden Pelican Award winners from Weeks 3 & 4, Term 3 were:

GOLDEN PELICAN RECIPIENT

MIDDLE UPPER PHASE

Jaydee

For always listening and following instructions.

GOLDEN PELICAN RECIPIENT

EARLY PHASE

Varli For consistently

listening and following instructions.

Congratulations to the Golden Pelican Award winners and to all of the students who received awards.

Our focus for weeks 5 & 6 is:

I can be safe ~ I can move calmly.

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The students of MUP 1 & 2 love beginning each day with outside activities including runs, ball games, parachute, exercises and crazy cool dancing! This physical activity sets the students up for great learning. Swimming has also been a huge hit for the student’s as they improve their skills from week to week.

The MUP students have plenty to “Celebrate” this term as they learn all about money, number and measurement through a range of cooking, shopping, games, activities and play based opportunities. Students are learning to recognize, read and write for different purposes e.g. a postcard, invitation, shopping list, recipe, letter. This will come in handy as they plan for future celebrations! Our recent “Friendship Celebration Day” prompted fantastic discussions amongst class members into what makes a good friend. Students wrote sentences about what they like about each person onto friendship fans and made wrist bands with friend's initials on them. We are proud of you MUP 1 and 2. Keep up the awesome learning!

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EP7 have been settling into their newly refurbished classroom and exploring the new space. We have started our Unit of Work- Ready Set Play and have been enjoying a variety of play stations including doctors and nurses, going to the shops, hairdressers and babies.

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Queensland Road Safety Week is 24th—30th August and everyone is encouraged to “Sign up for road safety”. Check out the StreetSmarts website for more information.

10th May 2019

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14th August 2020 Week 5, Term 3 Page 8

QLD Government Fairplay voucher program has now opened. This program provides subsidies to support families and to ensure kids continue to participate in physical activity.

Parents, carers or guardians can apply for a voucher valued up to $150 for their child, which can be used towards sport and active recreation membership, registration or participation fees with registered activity providers.

Use your FairPlay voucher to jump on a tennis court and join in the fun!

Visit FairPlay voucher link to find your local club and play!

Thursday 3rd Sep

Issue 6 of Book Clue is available online at https://www.scholastic.com.au/media/5667/bc-620.pdf

Each issues, Scholastic offer VALUE BOOKS to give all children the opportunity to take home a book and expe-rience the joy of independent or family reading time. The VALUE BOOKS available in Issue 6 are: