20 July 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Comments

One of the interesting things about teaching is that everyone has experienced it (we’ve all been to school!), everyone has an opinion on it and we are all experts. We hold to our views of the world, our prejudices and opinions tightly and rarely challenge ourselves to look at evidence of what is good teaching that makes an impact on student learning.

John Hattie, an academic researcher has with his large team conducted meta-analysis of educational activities across millions of students through the world. This analysis has led to a rating of activities from most influential (i.e. Greatest impact on learning) to least influential (i.e. Actually has a detrimental effect on a student’s learning).

Over the past weeks, the staff of our school have been considering the “top ten” of strategies that rank the highest in Hattie’s work.

The top ten are:

1. Self report grades by students
2. Piagetian programs (simply means ensuring the learning being undertaken is developmentally appropriate for the student)
3. Providing formative evaluation
4. Micro-teaching
5. Acceleration
6. Behaviours in the classroom
7. Interventions for students with learning difficulties
8. Teacher clarity
9. Reciprocal teaching
10. Feedback by students.

We need to have some care here as the terms may mean something different to what some may assume. Over the next few issues of DIRT I will expand on each of these and how these impact on what tutors can do to enhance the learning of their students.

If you would like to rush ahead and investigate this yourself then I suggest Hattie’s book, Visible Learning (2009). Otherwise over this term, I’ll provide an overview of each of the top ten with some ways it could influence your home teaching.

John Clark
Principal

Deputy Principal’s Comments

One of the key factors that can assist and contribute to student success in school and in general life is the ability to bounce back and continue to move forward and have a go. This concept is known as resilience.

Building resilience in students begins with forming a trusting relationship. The ability to ask questions, no matter how seemingly trivial and to have those questions addressed is one of the foundations on which this is built.

Encouraging students to have a go is another important contributor. A task that seems hard can be discouraging at first. As a tutor, assisting them to ask questions of their teacher to clarify, helping them to focus on the task and preparing a piece of work for submission goes a long way towards this. It is better for students to have a go, even if they do not fully understand what is required, it is far better than ignoring a task in the hope that it will just go away.

Another aspect of resilience is the ability to accept feedback, learn from it and move forward no matter what the outcome. Feedback can be either positive or negative depending on how it is viewed and interpreted. A student who works really hard on an assignment and only achieves a ‘C’ may seem disheartening on the face of it. Consider though that a ‘C’ means that they have done everything expected of them to complete the task. As parents, tutors and teachers, we really need to celebrate these successes. In this case, we need to reinforce the grade, celebrate it and consider the factors to perhaps next time go from a ‘C’ to a grade that doesn’t just meet, but exceeds the task requirements.

Students who may be reluctant to submit work because they are afraid of not getting a good mark is not uncommon. In this role, we must remind students that it is better to have a go. Perhaps the best analogy here is that of the high jump. What if only the person who was certain they could clear the bar was the only one to compete? The whole concept of trying, improving our technique and having another go, goes completely out the window.

Resilience is also the ability to overcome a result that is perhaps not the greatest achievement. At some stage, every one of us faces this in life. It is how we move on from these mistakes, learn from them and try again that sets leaders and champions apart. Imagine if the Wright Brothers had given up on their dreams of flight in 1906. If it weren’t for their perseverance and resilience, we wouldn’t be able to hop on an airliner today and go almost anywhere in the world.

Imagine too if people like Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Edison, perhaps as a result of a poor grade or a perceived unfavourable comment from a teacher had given up on their goals, hopes and dreams. Perhaps we would be sitting in the dark, huddled under a blanket, scared of the elements while we slowly die of pneumonia. What sets these people apart is that they didn’t give up on their hopes and dreams. Despite setback, criticism, and sometimes even ridicule, they persevered and achieved great things.

No matter what curve balls we get thrown, once the dust settles, we need to work collectively with our students in our respective roles to ensure that they are able to have a go. Sometimes we may need to pick them up, dust them off and work with them to move forward once again.

Andrew Smith
Deputy Principal

Parent Liaison Officer’s Comments

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share an “Only at Distance Ed” moment. I am sure all teachers have heard just about every reason under the sun why a student hasn’t submitted an assessment and I bet they have never heard of the following reason why a parent hasn’t received their eagerly awaited child’s report card!!

Names have been changed: “Dear Teacher: Just wondering if I could please be sent another copy of young Jane’s report card. It would seem the cattle thought they should check the mail before me. We picked up pieces from all over the flat and could read very little of them. Hubby has just finished putting a door on the mailbox so it shouldn’t happen again”.

Enjoy the start of Term 3.

Lesley Griffin
Parent Liaison Officer

Differentiation – Helping Our Students

Charters Towers State High School Scholarships

Charters Towers State High School offer Scholarships for: Academic, Music, Sport, Extra Curricula. Applications, closing Friday 28th July 2017, are open for Year 6 students entering State High School in 2018.

2017 Early School Leavers Survey

The Queensland Government is conducting its annual state wide survey of students who left school in Years 10, 11 and prior to completing Year 12 during 2016. The Early School Leavers survey is a short, confidential survey that collects information about what young people are doing the year after leaving school.

Between July and August, students who left school in Years 10, 11 and prior to completing Year 12 last year can expect to receive an invitation to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office to complete the survey. Please encourage them to take part.

For more information, visit the link below or telephone toll free on 1800 068 587.

Townsville Careers Expo

Visitor Information

Entry to the Townsville Careers Expo is free for ALL visitors!!

The 2017 Townsville Careers Expo is a must for anyone interested in starting, changing or upgrading their career including - high schools students and their parents, mature age and post graduate students, career seekers of ALL ages, employers looking for staff training and others.

The expo offers a wealth of information for visitors including -

• Access the latest careers, course, study and employment options.
• Advice on enrolment procedures.
• Talk to both local and national employers.
• Opportunity to talk to admissions staff.
• Attend the Job shop.
• Meet with interstate and overseas exhibitors.
• Try a range of trade skills in the demo area.
• Info on Bursaries, scholarship and application procedures.
• Compare courses from different providers.
• Student Services, GAP and exchange programs.

And a whole lot more!

Central Queensland University Open Day – Townsville

The Answer to your Questions.

Thinking about starting a TAFE or university qualification? If you're considering CQUni, you probably have a few questions. Maybe you already know that we're Australia's largest regional university with more more than 20 national locations , but want to find out more about our award-winning teaching professionals, outstanding student services and practical learning experiences

Perhaps you know that we're ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide and offer some of the best graduate outcomes in the country*, but have a few questions about your chosen course's entry requirements, teaching staff or facilities.

Wondering if we've got the path to your career? Search our huge range of course options and see what's on offer at your local campus or online. Then choose the 2017 Open Day event relevant to you.

Don't forget to register your interest so we can keep you up to date with event details and place you in the draw to win one of three prizes: a $1500 study pack including a MacBook Air and more; an Apple Watch or an iTunes voucher.

Register your interest in attending our Townsville Open Day on Sunday 10 September from 9 am - 1 pm.

Year 5

For their last unit of work, the Year 5 students learnt how to create a short, stop-motion animated movie using Microsoft PowerPoint. The movies had to tell a short story about two characters that face an ethical dilemma and include movement, sounds, text and transitions.

Using their photography skills, students took hundreds of photos and created some wonderfully entertaining movies. Here are some of their amazing stories:

Kate Ruthenberg and Sheree Heath
Year 5 Teachers

Brianna’s English movie

Chloe’s English Movie

Hannah’s English Movie

Morgan’s English Movie

2017 Inter-house Athletics Carnival

On the 21 and 22 June many of our students made the trip to school dressed in as much red or green as they could manage to proudly represent and support their sporting house at the annual Athletics Carnival. Both Shelton and Traeger were well represented with many keen athletes.

The carnival started loudly with both houses debuting their new war cries as part of the March Pass. Following the March Pass the competition was on, with many students competing for the title of Age Champion and champion house. Students competed in a variety of events including; long jump, high jump, shot-put, running races and relays. It was an enjoyable and action packed two days for all of those involved. However; there can only be one victorious house at the end of the day. After some hot competition Shelton was able to uphold their winning streak with a final point count of 859 compared to Traeger’s 772.

A big congratulation also goes out to our Overall Age Champions and Runners up.

All students who attended this year’s carnival competed exceptionally and should be commended and congratulated for their fantastic efforts. We look forward to seeing what some of our outstanding athletes can do at the upcoming Inter-School Athletics Carnival.

Kathy Macdonald
Sports Co-ordinator

Junior Secondary News

Year 9 Mask making

Literacy Program

Last term in the Literacy Program we started looking at writing skills. The students investigated and improved their writing skills in the narrative genre. They explored sizzling starts, showing and not telling, and no boring bits.

This term students will be focusing on note taking, paraphrasing and editing. These skills will support students with written work in subjects like science, geography and of course English.

Below are some sample paragraphs from student’s narratives. Check out the sizzling starts!

Junior Secondary Teachers

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