27 October 2016
Newsletter Articles
Acting Principal’s Comment
Dear Parents and Tutors,
This week’s Mini-School as always is an exciting time for our school community. Students have travelled from near and far to take part in a range of activities that contribute so much to the sense of community that is such an important part of our school. It is fantastic to see so many families who have made such a large commitment to be here this week. As usual, the rural families form the bulk of those that we see at these events. While they may not be the majority, when it comes to contribution to school activities and events, the rural families certainly are the ‘heart’ of our school. It is fantastic to see a growing commitment from a range of families as well. Diversity is such an important part of us that I have to acknowledge all those that contribute to our community and issue an open invitation to our students and parents to participate as fully in school life as possible.
Diversity in a school is a good thing but it does create a number of challenges. Those who have been with our school for some time would understand the changing nature of our school community. Not only has the school grown substantially but the entire nature of our student body has changed. One of the consequences has been the ‘scattering’ of students who are no longer confined to a core geographical boundary. This in turn has created a challenge for the school as it seeks to service a far broader range of students and meet a multitude of needs across a vast geographical area.
Like all school and businesses, our school is limited in terms of finance, physical and human resources. Therefore, as a school, we must prioritise to meet the needs of our school community. At any one time, this means that there will be both losses and gains in some areas as the school responds to the changing priorities and needs of the school community. As a school, we will not always get it right in making these decisions but we do so with the best of intentions and with the range of competing demands in mind.
Once Mini-School concludes, there is really not a lot of the school year left to us. As a school, we have already commenced planning for 2017 as I’m sure many of you have too. The year is fast getting away and it is not long to wrap up the multitude of things that still need to be done. Like you, we will need to prioritise these tasks.
The bad news is that there is not much of the year to go. The good news…there is not much of the year to go!
Sincerely
Andrew Smith
Acting Principal
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Deputy Principal’s Comment
Reading Comprehension
As students’ progress throughout primary and secondary school, they face new sets of comprehension challenges that can be difficult even for kids who ‘read well'. As the work becomes harder and students are expected to be more independent, the nature of reading and comprehension changes significantly.
Have you ever read a paragraph of a book and thought, "Wait, that doesn't make sense."? You probably went back, and reread the section, more slowly and carefully this time. You may have flipped back to the index page to see if you missed an important chapter or to see if it's explained in more detail later on in the book.
It's important we tell our children that being a good reader isn't only about speed or getting all the words right the first time. Good reading is knowing when you have to stop and try different things to help you understand the text.
Every subject relies on students having the ability to understand what they're reading and then use the information in a certain way. Depending on what the subject is and why the student is reading it, they'll need to use a range of new strategies to comprehend the information and use it properly.
Are they simply skimming through research information, for example, for clues of whether it's going to help them with history assignment? Or are they carefully reading poetry and need to be looking for literary devices like alliteration and metaphors? Different subjects require very different strategies.
One technique that can help is by using the "Super Six" simple comprehension strategies. (You probably already use most of these without even realising it.)
1. Making Connections
We make personal connections with the text, by comparing it to:
- something in your own life (text to self)
- another text (text to text)
- something occurring in the world (text to world)
2. Predicting
We use information from the text, images and our own experience to try to predict what might happen next, how the characters might respond or what the outcome might be.
3. Questioning
We ask and then answer questions that help clarify the meaning of the text, and also help us consider deeper meanings.
4. Monitoring
If we are reading a text and something doesn’t make sense, we know it’s okay to stop, reread and think about it to try and understand the meaning.
5. Visualising
We paint a picture in our head of the things that are being described and explained in the text. Visualising brings the text to life, engages the imagination and uses all of the senses
6. Summarising
We notice the most important things in the text, and can then put them together in our own words to describe what we have read.
Cameron Burke
Deputy Principal
Clermont Show CTSDE School display 2016
An enormous thank you to those dedicated families who skilfully displayed the Clermont Outreach students carefully done sand-art creations. The younger children enjoyed discovering how the image developed before their eyes and the older students gave great attention to detail producing high quality art pieces.
The Clermont Outreach Teacher’s planning and organisation resulted in a highly successful Art afternoon and the outcome was stunning work by the students. The Clermont Show CTSDE School’s display by Clermont Outreach families showed the hard work off to perfection and this was rewarded by the ICPA with $60 of Ashton Scholastic Book vouchers!
Our students will benefit greatly from the prize the display won at the Clermont Show this year!
Lyn Simatis
Year 2 Teacher
Clermont Show Display
LANGUAGES TEAM – CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINI-SCHOOL
Language teachers were happy to be given a session with the Years 4 and 5 at the forthcoming Mini-School. Teachers had several meetings to decide on what we could do with the one and a half hour slot in the packed timetable. We planned rotational activities for smaller groups.
The Language teachers were born in various countries: Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. We each “brainstormed” things that could create interest and also things that we felt confident in presenting to the students.
Bogilevu sensei: cultural comparisons…making use of Japanese artefacts, toys, clothing collected over many years to show students some very precious, interesting items.
Waerea sensei: making sensu (folded fans) and decorating them as a craft activity. Won’t these be useful in the hot weather!
Zeng sensei: demonstrating a Chinese martial art called “Chang Quan” (long fist). This should be a unique experience for the students.
Gwon sensei: demonstrating a Korean martial art that some of us are familiar with called “Taekwondo”. Again, this will be a most interesting experience for the students.
Doi sensei: action songs with our best vocalist Children’s songs from Japan are repetitious and full of happy sounds. Don’t be surprised if some of your children remember them!
Lu sensei: will be assistant and photographer. Some students will remember that during the last Mini-School, Lu sensei demonstrated Chinese dance in full costume.
Our goal is to create a harmonious atmosphere full of interesting cultural learning.
Sandy Bogilevu
Japanese teacher
ART FUN FOR PREPS in Unit 14
Our artistic Preps had lots of fun at home, creating and illustrating a dinosaur book, by using a variety of different art techniques, like:
- Crayon resist
- Straw painting
- Printing
- Painting with brushes
- Montage
Preps also painted a colourful picture to match a sentence they thought of, and wrote, containing 2 rhyming words.
They enjoyed creating a paper-tile family memory quilt by putting together 8 different drawings done by themselves and family members, showing something special each person remembered from their past. e.g. a new toy they received last Christmas; a new puppy; a wedding etc.
Well done to our budding Prep artists!
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Prep-Lucy’s family quilt |
Prep- Lucy’s -Dinosaur montage |
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Prep- Travis’s-montage |
Prep-Chelsea’s painting |
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Leean Shepherd and Dianne Luxton
Prep Teachers
Year 8 Fibre Art
In Term 4 the Year 8 students have been briefly delving into the art of Yarn Bombing. Their first task for the unit was to find an interesting object to wrap in wool, cotton or fabric strips. Presenting their artwork in an effective way was also something to consider.
Here are just a few samples of their work.
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Audrey’s Take Away My Cup |
Cliff’sThe Salt Shaker |
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The Colourful Max |
Ella Nana’s Bottle |
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Nathan’s Fallen Angel |
Shontel Branch of Life |
Marnie Niemi
Year 8 Art Teacher
Year 9 Maths and English
This week we are showcasing some of the great work our Year 9 Students are doing in Maths and English. Our first sample shows the creativity of our students in a writing sample and the second is a sample of some of the great maths work that is being done in Core 9 Maths.
LIFE
By Montana
Just like this pencil we break but sometimes we can shatter as well. Although we can be resharpened we cannot be reshaped unless we change ourselves or if somebody keeps breaking us. Sometimes we can try and rub out our mistakes but the scar will always remain with us or the person we imprinted on. We even try to white it out but that doesn't mean it's disappeared just because it's been hidden. Just like in life we write our beginnings, our ends and most importantly our story. It's a journey, it's a ride and it's an opportunity full of hope and faith. To receive we must give. To earn we must work. To learn we must listen. To be grateful we must thank. To do good we must do bad. To be unique you must be different. Life is full of ups and downs but to get there you have to stay on "If you fall get right back on cause the good lord calls everybody home", ('Cowgirls Don't Cry' By Brooks and Dunn). Don't hurt yourself because somebody else did. Don't misplace yourself because you will never find yourself again. So keep on writing your amazing story and write every word with pride.
Year 9 Teachers
Year 9 Core Maths
