28 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Last week we were blessed to have our students from Prep to Year 10 attend our Home Tutor School (HTS), along with their Home Tutors. It was a busy time and I’m sure that there were lots of tired children, parents, carers and staff after such an eventful week. I had the opportunity to spend time with our students, both in the class and also during camp times. During this time I watched the relationships between students, teachers, home tutors and families develop and appreciate the value that these experiences provide.

During the Parents and Citizens (P&C) Annual General Meeting, some concerns were raised regarding procedures and as such we have sought feedback from our families and will be undertaking a similar process with staff. If you have any feedback regarding our school process, we look forward to hearing from you via mail or email (so that we can collate the information). During the feedback from the HTS we were pleased to see the positive feedback teachers received and also constructive advice for future improvements.

Mrs Mladenovic

It’s important to take the time though and recognise that many of our students and families were unable to attend, following the devastating floods that have affected our region, and our school community. Equally as distressing, we continue to have families who remain drought stricken as much of the rain did not see its way into areas that were desperately in need. We again send our thoughts and prayers to all families who are experiencing difficult times and will continue to offer support in ways that we are able.

At Charters Towers School of Distance Education, every staff member is committed to working alongside all members of our school community, in a supportive and collaborative way, working to achieve successful outcomes. On Saturday night I had the pleasure of accompanying Lesley Griffin and her husband Mike, to attend the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International celebration, where Lesley was named a Paul Harris Fellow. Lesley was nominated by Allan Church from the Sunrise Club in Townsville, and received the award for her work with supporting families and assisting Rotary with their drought relief committee to help those in need. As a school we also congratulate Lesley and this is just another example of the great work being done at our school both within and outside of the classroom.

Lesley Griffin and Allan Church

Mrs Mladenovic
Principal (Acting)

Deputy Principal’s Report

After a busy start to the year, it is that time of the term where we reach the half way mark.

The first term of the school year is always a flurry of activity in terms of student enrolments within our school. It is encouraging that our school continues to grow with student numbers across most areas at all-time highs. Enrolments continue to flow in on a daily basis even after our official staffing has closed. A consequence of this growth is that the school will need to recruit additional staff to meet this need.

While at a school level we seek to proactively respond to this change, at a systemic level the complexities of coming to terms with this shift can be substantially more difficult. This is the challenge we face as we move forward.

First term too is also an important time to establish routines, which set students up for their year of learning and even beyond. The key to success is to establish routines and patterns for students to follow with regard to Collaborate lesson attendance, completion of assigned work and submission of send-in work and assessment tasks. Please do not hesitate to contact your teacher or Department HOD for support in this area.

I would like to thank all those who attended our recent Home Tutor School. It was very humbling to see those who, in the face of adverse conditions at the time, had made considerable efforts to take part in the program. I thank you for your support and your feedback during the week.

While not there yet, the end of the term is rapidly approaching. Please note that we finish the term not with a swimming carnival, as has been tradition, but for this year, our Interhouse Athletics Carnival (4th and 5th April). This change was necessary to accommodate earlier dates for both the local Interschool Carnival and the subsequent Northern Region Track and Field Championships.

Mr Burke
Deputy Principal

Library – Catch the Reading Wave

Thank you to all who supported our Bookfair Beach either by purchasing a book or sending in a surfer to help decorate the library. I hope the students all liked the photo prop wave.

Mrs Currin
Librarian

Year 1

WOW! What an amazing start to the year we have had with our clever year 1’s.

Our year 1 Teachers for 2019 are Ms Chantel Micallef and Mrs Genevieve Copelin. We are both so excited to be working with the year 1 children, their families and Home –tutors.

Ms Micallef and Mrs Copelin have enjoyed getting to know the children on lessons these past few weeks and have been so amazed to see how well the children are participating in our lessons. A huge thank you to all our home – tutors for your support in making our online lessons run smoothly, we greatly appreciate your guidance with our year 1’s in their daily lessons.

Last week the children came in for Home Tutor School week and we had a wonderful time. We loved spending time getting to know each other. Each of the children drew a portrait of themselves for our Red wall and throughout the week completed a fun, “All about Me” booklet.

We loved learning about each of our year 1 friends as each of the children took turns sharing something from home with their friends and with their teachers. We especially loved learning about little Nadotto – Ted’s baby elephant he rescued when he was living in Africa.

This term we have been learning about addition and subtraction. In our lessons we have been singing five little monkey’s jumping on the bed and so when the children came in for home tutor school week we spent some time acting out the song with our “16 Monkey’s” jumping on the bed. Then we practiced counting how many were left once another monkey fell off the bed… everyone loved taking turns pretending they fell of the bed…

This term we have also been learning about what is needed to write a simple sentence. During our online sessions, our students have been able to do some simple sentences to share with the class. Last week at home tutor school week the children wrote a simple sentence about our Book week Beach theme dress up day. We are so proud of how clever our year 1’s are with their writing and expressing their ideas.

During home tutor school week the children enjoyed many opportunities to work in small groups and complete their class work. We enjoyed story time on the mat each day and working through our new soundwaves program as a whole class. We loved our fun activities each afternoon, making collage faces to hang in our classroom, using icing to show different emotions on our cookies and make playdough faces and emotions.

On Wednesday afternoon we had a wonderful time at the Town pool, discussing water safety and how to be safe in the water and look after our friends. We practiced getting our heads wet under the water and had some fun with our friends using the kick boards.

On Friday we all dressed up for our Scholastic bookfair – Beach theme. Mrs Copelin dressed up as “The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Thong” and Ms Micallef dressed up as the character from the story “We Love the Sea Side”. Mrs Currin was dressed up as “Dad at the Beach”.

All the year 1’s bought in their favourite book or picture of a book and were thrilled to dress up for the morning session and parade around to show their favourite characters.

Ted as a pirate

We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead with you all. If you have any questions or concerns about our program or your child, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can make a time to meet. Strong partnerships with families and Home-tutors are so crucial in providing the best support for your child.

Looking forward to working with you all!

Mrs Copelin and Miss Micallef
Year 1 Teachers

Year 4

Home Tutor School

Year 4 have had a fantastic start to the year by working through Math, Science and English subjects at home. All students have settled back into a school routine and have been working hard. During week 4, a few of the Year 4 students joined Mr Purdie and Miss O’Brien here at school for Home Tutor School.

We looked at language features and reading skills in English and got creative by writing some short stories. In Maths, we looked at time, chance, balancing equations and fractions. Students enjoyed a range of written and hands on activities. The afternoons brought about a chance for students to look for erosion at the Murray Darling and the Twelve Apostles using google maps and created some masterpieces during art sessions. In the afternoons we went for some swims, did some art activities, and even practised some high jumping. The evenings consisted of a range of activities, including games night, reader’s theatre and a movie night. The week was a great chance for the students who attended Home Tutor School to spend time with the Year 4 teachers.

Henry and Joseph during an art activity

Miss O’Brien and Mr Purdie
Year 4 Teachers

Year 5

The year 5 students had a jam packed schedule at the 2019 Home Tutor School. The students got creative with their writing inventing objects, chocolate bars and even planning their ‘dream outreach’. We were kept busy with science experiments, swimming, maths investigations, art, surfing in the library and catching up with our friends.

We worked as teams to create an ‘egg parachute’ that could protect their passenger (the unboiled egg) when dropped onto concrete from a 1.5m drop, and to much of their own surprise, they all survived – not one single Humpty Dumpty! We also spent our last afternoon trying to build the tallest ‘spaghetti and marshmallow’ tower (the marshmallows did not last long).

We spent our afternoons and evenings swimming, playing cricket, athletics practice, readers theatre, trivia, movie nights and just relaxing with their friends. We even celebrated a birthday with an ice-cream cake (which we learned melts quickly here in Charters Towers).

Overall the year 5 students and teachers had a very fun and eventful week. We loved meeting everyone and we cannot wait to see you all again!

Carefully checking for no Humpty Dumptys!

Catching a wave to an awesome book in the Library.

Enjoying building our towers, we got so hungry!

Our favourite afternoon activity

Mrs Larson and Miss Hardy
Year 5 Teachers

Languages

New Head of Department

Konnichiwa / Nihao (Hello). My name is Yeongmin Gwon and I have been teaching Chinese and Japanese at Charters Towers School of Distance Education for 2.5 years. This year I am very excited to be taking up a new position as the Head of Department for Teaching and Learning (Languages). I am originally from Andong, South Korea and moved to Australia 8 years ago. Before coming to Charters Towers I spent 4 years in Tasmania and 1 year on the Sunshine Coast. Some of my hobbies in Charters Towers include going to the gym, swimming and reading.

Skills in languages provide personal, social and employment benefits. Learning an additional language can strengthen general literacy skills and students’ understanding of their first language. It provides insights into the languages and cultures that shape their own and others’ beliefs, values and attitudes. I am privileged to work with some of the most talented and passionate people in the world here in our Languages team, as well as looking forward to delivering a quality Languages program to all of our students.

This is where I came from

South Korea

Mr Gwon
Languages (Acting Head of Department)

Home Tutor School

Year 6

At the recent Home Tutor School, the Year 6 students, along with their teachers, Mrs Franklin and Miss Ruthenberg, had a fantastic time getting to know each other.

In the library, students spent time catching the waves.

We put a ‘bang’ in our English work, focusing on creating some ‘sizzling starts’, ‘tightening the tension’ and having an ‘exciting ending’ to our story writing.

Students planned, built and improved paper structures to create the highest tower and the best marble slide.

In Maths, students practiced their fractions by increasing the serving sizes of recipes to cater for large groups of people. The end product – delicious cinnamon pikelets, decadent triple-choc brownies and explosive blueberry muffins.

Perspective drawing is a drawing technique used to illustrate dimension through a flat surface. The Year 6s practiced one-point perspective drawing by creating a landscape sketch of some railway tracks. You can recreate their drawings at home by watching this YouTube video: “How To Draw Using 1-Point Perspective”

It was an amazing week!

Miss Ruthenberg
Year 6 Teacher

Year 12

Welcome to 2019. This is a huge year for our Year 12 students. For many, this is their final year of schooling. For others, it is the step between the heavily structured school setting to the very independent scope of university. Whichever path chosen, our students have this final year to get through. Start the year by planning for success. Organise your study area, print out the WRCs, mark important due dates and start the year on an organised and focused note. This year may seem long, but it will go very, very quickly.

At this point, our Year 12 students will know if they are on an OP and/or QCE path. Students must achieve 20 points from subjects in their senior phase of learning as well as meet minimum literacy and numeracy requirements to receive their QCE. Please keep your eyes on the finish line and remember you do need to achieve a sound (C) or better in your subjects! You can do this. We believe in you!

This year will require more focus and effort. Your schooling IS the priority this year (although please remember to stop and have fun too). Above all, TRY. Do your best. Give your all. Remember, there are thousands of Year 12 students in your position – stressed, nervous and slightly apprehensive. 3 in 4 students will experience stress and anxiety. If you are struggling, let us know! It’s OK. Your PC teacher and class teachers are there to support you. We have our amazing school psychologist, Pim Crothers, to speak with if you need to. A really great resource is the Beyond Blue website for ‘Surviving Year 12’:

Each individual is experiencing their own educational journey. Some will be aiming for those elusive perfect scores and others will be content to simply crawl across the line. That’s OK. Be successful on your own terms. Set your own goals. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is start, but the secret to getting ahead is getting started. Don’t worry what others are doing, what matters is what YOU are doing. Work hard to make yourself proud. Let’s have an awesome year.

Miss Mroz
Head of Department Senior School

School Phychologist

Hello again to all our wonderful CTSDE families,

Last week, we had our fantastic Home Tutor School (HTS), which was a real first for me. It was truly awesome to see so many of our families and students face to face. Thank you to all to the parents and students who said hello to me and came up for a chat.

During the week, I was lucky enough to present at HTS discussing the very important topic of Anxiety. I had a very lovely group of parents come in and ask lots of questions, and I’d like to share with all of you, who could not be there, a few key points.

Let’s talk Anxiety:

1. Anxiety is the body’s response to fear. When anxiety begins to impact daily activities (i.e. schooling, relationships, etc.), is when it is a problem.
2. Anxiety has psychological and physical symptoms. These can be:
   • Extreme worry and fear
   • A racing mind, and inability to “think straight”
   • Poor concentration and memory
   • Avoiding new or difficult situations
   • Unable to sleep and being constantly tired
   • Rapid heart rate and sweating
   • Shallow breathing and shortness of breath
   • Restlessness and shaking
   • Stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea
3. Supporting people and children with anxiety can be a challenge. Sometimes it can be really difficult to verbalise what is happening. So having empathy and really listening to what’s going on is important. Try avoiding phrases like “Don’t worry”, as this can dismiss their concerns, rather than hearing them.
4. To help manage anxiety there are a few things we can begin at home. These are:
   • Setting realistic goals (even if they start really small, i.e. saying hello to the teacher)
   • Regularly practicing relaxation techniques to manage symptoms (deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, etc.)
   • Encourage and develop a healthy lifestyle promoting good diet, exercise, and sleep
5. Not being afraid to seek help. It’s important to acknowledge that anxiety can be really difficult, not only for the sufferer but for those trying to support them. So knowing when you need an extra set of hands is really important. There are lots of avenues for help; for example you could pop in to your GP, go to a mental health centre for more information, have a chat to the school psychologist, or to your teachers.
6. Consider online supports. This can be particularly helpful way to gather information or for those living in remote areas. Here are some of favourites:
   • Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
   • Head to Health - https://headtohealth.gov.au/
   • Kids Helpline - https://kidshelpline.com.au/
   • Parent Line - https://www.parentline.com.au/
   • Raising Children - https://raisingchildren.net.au/
   • Reach Out - https://au.reachout.com/
7. Finally, it is really important to remember that this is manageable and it does get better. So please take notice, and reach out for support.

Anxiety can be tough, and I encourage all of you to reach out for a chat, even if it is just to seek out more information. I am happy to chat about any concerns that you may have from exam stress to ongoing anxiety or even the recent catastrophic weather events.

Until next time,

Ms Crothers
School Psychologist (provisional)
pcrot9@eq.edu.au

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