3 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Comment

ANZAC Day

Thank you to all who turned up at either (or both) the Dawn Service or the Parade and ceremony at the Cenotaph.

It was a good turnout for the school and we were well represented.

If you did not get an opportunity to attend this year, perhaps place it on your agenda for next.

Thanks and appreciation to the teachers working through the Student Council who organised the school service and the events. Well done!

Student Representatives at the Dawn Service in Charters Towers

HAVE YOUR SAY ON CYBERBULLYING

Many parents and teachers are concerned about cyberbullying. It is a serious problem that can hurt young people, families and school communities. Cyberbullying is also a complex problem that is often invisible to parents and teachers.

In February the Premier appointed a group of Queenslanders who are passionate about stopping cyberbullying of young people. The Queensland Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce is chaired by well-known author and commentator, Madonna King, and includes members with knowledge and expertise in education, youth health and wellbeing, law, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, disability and families.

The Taskforce needs your help to develop a framework for Queensland to help reduce cyberbullying of young people. They want to hear from parents, carers, students, teachers and other experts in schools. In particular, the Taskforce wants to hear about your ideas to:

• prevent or reduce cyberbullying
• support people affected by cyberbullying of young people.

How to have your say

Email the Taskforce at antibullyingtaskforce@premiers.qld.gov.au

Upload your ideas as a submission on the Taskforce website

Come to a public forum in 12 Queensland locations including Brisbane, Cairns, Rockhampton and Charleville. For information about forums visit the link below.

Everyone can be part of the stand against cyberbullying. Ms King and the Taskforce members look forward to hearing from you.

John Clark
School Principal

Deputy Principal’s Comment

Term 2 – Busy and Ready To Go!

With Term 1 now behind us we enter one of the busiest times of the year. Just some of the upcoming events that are on this term are highlighted below.

As part of the “Ten Days in the Towers” celebrations, this Friday 4th May, the school will be once again entering a float in the parade travelling along the main street. This year’s theme is “our country…our heritage” to the tune of “Outback Club” by Lee Kernaghan. For those wishing to take part, the procession will start on the corner of Hodgkinson Street and Boundary Street. Look for the truck with the Distance Ed. banner. Please meet us at the truck at 5:00pm. The parade will end in Mosman Street at approximately 6:00pm.

Outreaches have also commenced this week for Clermont and Hughenden with Cape River and Ewan following in Week 6. These field services offer a time to consolidate on work done and also a time to socialise with peers. They are a time of great reward for teachers, students and home tutors alike.

Sandwiched in between both sets of Outreaches is the three day NAPLAN Inreach. While open to all students, it offers those in the Year 3/5/7/9 juncture years the opportunity to sit the NAPLAN tests with other members of their cohort.

Capping off this jam-packed term is the Interhouse Athletics Carnival on the 27th and 28th June, a busy term indeed.

Cameron Burke
Deputy Principal Primary

Lesley Griffin – Parent Liaison Officier

Sports for Kids

PLEASE CONTINUE TO COLLECT Coles “Sports for Kids” and the Woolies “Earn and Learn” vouchers for CTSDE for the Student Council and send into the school. PLEASE CONTACT CHLOE SHAW chilc2@eq.edu.au for more information.

Lesley Griffin
Parent Liaison Officer

Dental Van

Please fill out the following forms if you are interested:

Facebook Page

Student ABMT

Clermont ICPA Sports Camp

Enrolment Package

Please find attached the Clermont Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Sports Camp Enrolment Package.

P & C News

Clermont Outreach families wore green shirts yesterday to show their support of our families who were rallying to ensure fair laws for farmers in relation to the proposed Vegetation Management Laws.

Amanda Clark
P&C President

Engagement Officer

Home Study Environment Checklist

This checklist will help you to consider your home study environment. Use a star to mark out how you feel about different aspects of your study space. After completing the checklist reflect on what improvements you could make.

Cross Country Trials

REMINDER

The 2018 Primary Interschool Cross Country will be held on Wednesday the 9th of May at Millchester State School here in Charters Towers. All students aged 9-10 years old will run 2km and all students aged 11 – 12 years old will run 3km.

Swimming Carnival

Fun in the Sun!

On Thursday the 29th of March, many of our students made the trip to Charters Towers to compete in the annual Swimming Carnival. Many students from both Shelton and Traeger turned up dressed in green and red to represent their house.

The carnival started loudly with both houses proudly reading their war cries and marching around the pool. Following the march past, students were ready to jump into the pool and start competing against one another. Students competed in many swimming styles including freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly. Congratulations to all students for trying their best and for displaying great sportsmanship throughout the day. After a day full of fierce competition, endless cheering and many records being broken, Shelton took out the win on 476 points with Traeger being close behind on 406 points.

Congratulations to all students who received Age Champion or Runners up. You should all be very proud of your achievements.

All students who attended this year’s carnival competed exceptionally hard and should be commended on their efforts and sportsmanship. We look forward to seeing some of our students represent our school at the Inter-School Swimming Carnival later this year. Good luck!

Sports Committee 2018

Student Council

ANZAC Day

On April 24th, our school leaders, with help from Miss Chen and Mr Taylor, presented the ANZAC Collaborate session for all students. Thank you to everyone who attended.

ANZAC Day saw The School of Distance Education – Charters Towers well represented in the Charters Towers ceremonies. We would like to extend our thanks to the students and teachers who attended the Dawn Ceremony and the town march.

Upcoming events:

This term is quite busy for our Student Council with all of the outreaches. We will have 100 boards at each outreach to raise money. Our athletics carnival will run in the last week of term, where we will also have fundraising for the school!

Coles Sports for Schools Vouchers

If you still have any vouchers around the house you can still send them in to Mrs Shaw before the end of May!

Getting to know our leaders

To mix things up this year we have decided that each edition of DIRT we will introduce you to our school representatives. This week we are meeting our school captains Kelsey and Brayden.

Hello, I am Kelsey. I am honoured to be one of the School Captains this year. I wanted to join the student council to learn how to be a leader, work with a team of fun, friendly students and help make all in and out reaches as fun as possible. When I leave school, I aim to further my studies in both agriculture and business.

Name: Brayden
Role on student council: School Captain

Why you wanted to be a leader: I wanted to be a leader because I like being able to help people and do my bit to help where possible.

Goals for the future: I am very passionate about living and working on the land, which is what I aim to do.

New Term, New Teachers!

Welcome!

The SDECT team would like to extend our warmest welcome to all of the new teachers and support staff to our school. We are very happy to have you join our team and we hope you have an excellent time working with us. Welcome aboard!

Year 1 - Round Up

Visual Arts

Last term, children had lots of fun completing Visual Arts. They learnt about primary colours, mixing colours, collage, texture, line and shape. They created some beautiful artworks depicting a healthy habitat, which linked nicely to our science unit.

Check out some of our budding artists’ work below.

English

Last term, children practised writing retells about familiar stories. They focussed on identifying important parts from the beginning, middle and end as well as choosing key words from the book to include in their writing. We think they did a fabulous job! It was a pleasure to see how much their writing had progressed from the start of the year. Children wrote retells about the story Big Rain Coming.

Lainee

Beginning: Old Stephen and the children were at the desert. Old Stephen saw some rain clouds. He thought it might rain.
Middle: But it didn’t rain all week. The children went for a swim in the billabong to keep cool.
End: On Saturday, Old Stephen and the children danced in the rain.

Khloe

Beginning: Old Stephen said there was rain coming.
Middle: There was still no rain.
End: There was rain. It was wonderful, cool, wet, rain.

Thomas

Beginning: On Sunday, Old Stephen said, “Big rain coming”. He was pointing to the dark clouds in the South. He was talking to some kids. The story was set in the Australian bush. It is very hot and dry.
Middle: Each day, it would not rain. It was very hot, dry and dusty. The kids and the animals were trying to keep cool.
End: On Saturday, it rained! All the people and the animals played outside in the wonderful, cool, wet, rain.

Mackenzie

Beginning: Old Stephen saw dark clouds and he said, “Big rain coming.” He was out in the bush.
Middle: No rain came. It was dry and they were hot. They were all trying to keep cool.
End: It started to rain and they danced in the rain.

Ava

Beginning: Old Stephen could see dark clouds. “Big rain coming,” he said on Sunday.
Middle: From Monday to Thursday no rain. It was hot, dusty and warm. The frogs huddled around the tap.
End: Friday the clouds echoed with thunder. Saturday it rained.

Leo

Beginning: Sunday afternoon Old Stephen nodded to the dark clouds spreading in the south. “Big rain coming.” he said.
Middle: But actually on Monday there was no rain and on Tuesday there was no rain and when Wednesday came not even a single drop. Thursday came and still absolutely NO RAIN! But when Friday came the thunder was echoing.
End: Saturday came and there was finally rain!

Chloe Langham and Tash Weston
Year 1 Teachers

Year 4

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Year 4 have been off to a very busy start to the term. In Science, the students are learning about the lifecycle of living things and the effect that environmental factors have on survival. They are exploring this topic by setting up investigations. Currently, they have three investigations to record observations on!

Our Math Unit looks at using generalisations about odd and even numbers (such as an odd number plus an odd number will always equal an even number) to predict answers.

Folktales and the messages or morals that they convey are being explored in English this term. At the end of the unit, the students write their own folktale, which has a message or moral. We can’t wait to read these! What a lot of learning to fit around outreaches. However, I am sure we can do it!

Tiana O’Brien and Sharon McLauchlan
Year 4 Teachers

Primary HOD

Bee-Bots in the Early Primary Years

The saying “busy bees” is going to be programmed to have a whole new meaning in our early years classrooms very soon. I am proud to announce that under the wonderful guidance of Ms Weston the Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students have been successful in their application for a Charters Towers Regional Council Junior Community grant! The students wrote an application explaining that they would use the grant funding to buy bee-bots which are little bumble-bee looking robots that help students learn and practise coding and programming which are essential skills in today’s ever-changing, fast-paced technological world .

Last Friday the council hosted an afternoon tea where Ted Cuddihy (Prep student), Josie Broad (Year 2 student), Ms Tash Weston (Year 1 Teacher) and Mr Cameron Burke (Deputy Principal) accepted the grant on behalf of our school.

The students did an excellent job writing and drawing pictures for their proposal (in a limited time frame) which can be viewed below. I am sure they will greatly enjoy using the bee-bots at inreaches and outreaches once they are purchased with the grant funding.

Mrs Colleen Purdie
Acting Head of Department - Primary

Year 8

History News

To start off Term 2 in History, Year 8 students are exploring the incredible change-over from the Roman Empire to the Medieval period. In order to understand this shift (from emperors to kings and queens, from senators and togas to lords and suits of armour), students are becoming familiar with the feudal system and its (not entirely fair, kind, or pretty) sharing out of power and resources. As we move through this term, students will be focusing on the amazing power of the Medieval church and the decision of so many European knights and peasants to leave their homes and fight in the Crusades. So far, students have reached a near consensus on the following opinions:

• They would not time-travel to the Middle Ages, given the chance.
• The feudal system was not what you’d call ‘fair’ or ‘equal’, but it did work: it was stable.
• Embarrassment was a key part of Medieval punishments.

There was some disagreement about whether the best option, as a lord fighting with another lord, would be to bribe them, raise an army of peasants (not always the best soldiers) to fight them, or appeal to the king for help. There were some different views, too, on whether it is most important for a king to be kind or to be strong.

Our work this term is focused significantly on carefully interpreting sources: using evidence to anchor and support some of those bigger ideas about the fairness of the feudal system, or the harshness of punishments for the poor. Another key aim is to be able to write clear and compelling paragraphs about Medieval lives: people in the Middle Ages were obsessed about being able to do this, as well. Getting your writing in the correct order and shape was compared to putting an animal together properly: a fish’s head has to go in one place (so that it can eat and breathe), and a horse’s hooves had better face the ground.

Richard Newman
Year 8 Teacher

Senior School

Stick With It!

What a great start to the year! Already our Senior School is in full swing and bulging at the seams from eating too many chocolates over the Easter Break. This is a big year for our seniors as they are put under increasing pressure to meet deadlines, fulfil task requirements and remain the wonderful young men and women that they are. If you are a Home Tutor of one of these little pearls, you will understand the stress and pressure they are under. Please offer your support and encouragement as best you can. While they may not see the forest for the trees, we know that their hard work will pay off.

This term is looking very full already. We have Hughenden Outreach and Clermont Outreach happening as well as Cape River and Ewan Outreach and the always fun Townsville Outreach. Also in there during week 11 is the assigned Work Placement week for our students undertaking a VET qualification. The end of the term also brings with it the end of Semester 1. This is a great time to reflect on the progress of the year and smile (or cry) at the report card that will inevitably arrive. Please remember that we are here to support both you as the Home Tutor as well as the student under your care.

Term 2 is a long one (11 weeks!) and I know that many of my students are already counting down to the mid-year holidays. With that in mind, I leave you with this thought: Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves. What will you achieve this term?

Angela Mroz
Senior School Teacher

Languages – John Greenhalgh

Hello!

I’m the newest Chinese teacher to come to CTSDE. I’ve been here for about 2 months and am really enjoying working with so many friendly people. I am 46 years old and have been teaching for the last 20 years - mainly in China and Japan. As well as teaching ESL in China, I worked as an IELTS Examiner, an interesting job testing the English language of people who want to come to Australia to work or study. This job involved only weekend work so, during weekdays, I was able to build and run my own restaurant set in Dali, a historic town in Yunnan Province, South-West China, at the foot of the Himalayas. Unfortunately, with something of a property bubble in China recently, and due to personal circumstances, I was unable to continue. Looking forward, very much, to working with you all in Charters Towers!

Library News

Exciting News!

Our new library search site is working. You will now be able to search and reserve books online.

Please follow these directions for our New Library site

• Your ID - ___________________ (MIS ID –example - achil02)
• password – CTSDELIBRARY (The password is case sensitive, so I recommend typing the logon and then pressing caps lock to type the password, as shown.)
• search for – Title or Author or Series
• find a book you like and click on the circle to reserve button. I will send reserved books when I have your library bag.

If you have any problems call me on 4754 6809 in the Library.

Mrs Currin
Librarian

You can also enter Digital Library with the OVERDRIVE tab on CTSDE library page to search for digital versions

Get Reading-Get eBooks!

Easy to use - available 24/7 - eBooks for all age groups
Start reading eBooks in 4 easy steps:

1. Go to the link below (or enter with the OVERDRIVE tab on CTSDE library page) and enter your MIS ID
2. Search or browse for eBooks
3. Sample before you borrow
4. Borrow and download

• Read online using OverDrive
• Read offline using the OverDrive app or Adobe Digital Editions

Search & Sample Borrow & Download READ!

Helping Your Student Retain Information

What You Can Do To Improve

Teaching and tutoring are not linear or straight line activities. Good teaching and planning learning builds in ways in which knowledge and skills can be looped back on themselves, repeated in interesting ways and constructs understanding about the relationships between multiple ideas or concepts.

Learning is the construction tool by which young people can build knowledge and skills that are the foundation of their working life and social experiences. It also helps them to make informed choices in the face of new information and creates the possibility of life lone learning. In today’s rapidly changing world (especially in knowledge, ways of doing things and technology) it is increasingly important for our young people to have the skills needed to keep that foundation solid.

Assignments and assessments may play a part in the short term mastery of facts and information, but much of that knowledge is forgotten as they move onto the next topic or course. Some of it is even forgotten within a subject itself.

Here are some ways we can avoid “teaching and abandoning” to help your learners retain as much content knowledge as possible over time.

1. Use concept webs

One way to enhance retention is to increase the number of associations between concepts. That way, if we think of one concept, we’ll remember the others too. Each time you recall a concept, you strengthen its presence in your long-term memory store. Concept webs can help students understand and visualise the relationships between topics in a subject, thereby helping them remember the subject content better over time.

2. Review material regularly

Cognitive psychologists recommend spacing review sessions over time rather than holding one session (cramming) before an exam. While one-time review sessions may work in the short term, they don’t support long-term knowledge retention. Think of memory as a muscle, not a storage vessel: use it or lose it. Try to hold weekly review sessions throughout the term to help solidify students’ knowledge base. This will help them remember the material better once the subject is over.

3. Present old material in new contexts

Seize every opportunity to let the old inform the new. If you teach history, use current events as an opportunity to bring up similar or contrasting moments throughout history. If you teach maths, show students how to use a method from the start of the term to solve a problem later in the term. As an added bonus, old information becomes more interesting to students when they can see it applied to new scenarios.

4. Include old material in your at home reviews and evaluations

Set aside a few questions from past work each time you do an at home test. It’s a great practice to model the importance of holding onto information – again it is that ‘use it or lose it’ approach. It does help learners solidify that knowledge foundation and benefit them in the long run.

5. Help students record their learning

One of the most effective ways to retain information over time is to keep a copy of it for future review. Sounds obvious, but how many of us actually took the time to document our education in an organised and deliberate way? Beyond saving notes, projects and tests, what can you encourage students to do that might help them keep track of what they’ve learned over time? If you need somewhere to start, check out digital learning portfolios like VoiceThread, Weebly for Education and Wikispaces Classroom.

New information may seem more urgent and significant than old information, but it’s the material your children will learn while they are in school and in your care that will shape how they interpret and use that new information throughout our adult lives.

Set aside some time this term to show your students that mastery means more than passing an exam. It will benefit them greatly in the years of learning to come.

Adapted from: http://education.abc.net.au/newsandarticles/blog/-/b/2456464/how-to-help-students-retain-what-they-ve-learnt

AHVISE – Aussie Helpers Volunteers for Isolated Students Education

AHVISE TUTORS are dedicated, retired teachers who are passionate about teaching, wish to continue to teach and also want to contribute to the education of our isolated students. AHVISE Tutors are available to stay with a family for six weeks or longer, if you need the help and tutors are prepared to stay on for a longer period – in some instances, a full school term may be possible if it suits both parties. AHVISE does not have a time limit on placements.

AHVISE help is for tutoring school age children not babysitting. These tutors bring with them a wealth of knowledge, please embrace it as you may even get some teaching tips along the way.

AHVISE ANGELS are non-teachers who do light house duties – they may prepare meals, get washing done, answer phones and watch younger children so that parents are free to concentrate on students in the schoolroom.

This program is available to all geographically isolated families and does not have to be just in emergency situations. If you know a time when you are going to be very busy and may need that extra assistance e.g. mustering time, new baby, tourist season etc…. Then you can submit a request for an AHVISE teacher or Angel.

Each family is responsible to pay $500 flat rate to AHVISE (if you are experiencing financial hardship, please discuss this with your local area coordinator.) No money changes hand between Families, coordinators or tutors.

Following is the procedure when applying for a VISE

• When you wish to apply for a AHVISE tutor or angel, please contact local area coordinator (Maxine Sharpe) on how to apply for tutor.
• Families will be asked to go onto the AHVISE web page to register. (Upon registration, the parent will be given a login/password. It will then be up to the parent to fill in a placement request on the job board. This request will go to the local area coordinator who will verify all is correct before sending out the placement add.

You need to put as much information as you can to make it easier for your local area coordinator and tutors. Remember everyone is a volunteer so if we do a little bit it lightens the load.

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