28 March 2019

NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Principal’s Report

As the term draws to an end, I have been reflecting on my time at the School of Distance Education Charters Towers and enjoying the memories that I have had during my time as Principal. Whilst there is still a week to go, and I am looking forward to seeing many of you again at our Athletics Carnival next week, I cannot help but reflect on what I have learnt and how my time at this school has enriched me. I gained tremendous satisfaction spending time with our Home Tutors and families and hearing their concerns. As a school, we recognise and value the work of our home tutors and as a result of this, please note the following:

• We have recently authorised spending to add an additional set of readers to our resource library to mitigate students being without readers whilst they are in transit. We encourage our Home Tutors to return book packs as soon as possible after completion so we can ensure you have resources on hand at all times. These readers have been organised and should be with us early Term 2.
• During our Inreaches, our Prep, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 students will be dropped to their classrooms instead of the Library. This reduces the need for two transitions in the morning and also provides an opportunity for Home Tutors to speak to teachers about any concerns that day. We will still have our Book Parade and encourage the use of the library, but feel that this model will assist many of our younger students with settling into a routine.
• We will formalise the drop off and pick up process during Inreaches with regard to timing, and also areas for parent parking. Drop-offs and pick-ups were raised as a safety concern and we are looking at appropriate options for future Inreaches. This information will be communicated to our families in our documentation around Home Tutor School week.
• We are implementing a beginning of year checklist which will include ensuring that all students have been provided with their timetable and have had contact from their teacher in the week before lessons commence.
• We have looked at the timing of the morning emails and when parents receive notification of any teacher absences. To make changes to this, we need to amend some school processes and this will be something the school will look to change during the course of the year.
• Following a review of student numbers, and the growth of the school, Primary School Captain will be open to Year 5 students only for service in the following year (Year 6).
• As a school, we have made a future investment in our Primary sector and employed a Head of Curriculum to work with teachers in developing high yield strategies and curriculum alignment. The successful candidate for this position was Andrea Franklin. Andrea was previously working with Year 5. She will be replaced by Brittany Taylor who is a Primary trained teacher, and has been working at the school since the beginning of the year. We are confident this additional investment will a valuable contribution to our school curriculum and a support for our teachers.

At the end of this term, we farewell Geoff Jackson and Heather Robinson and thank them for their contribution to our school community. We recently welcomed Jenny Saxby and Amanda Sewell, and next term look forward to also welcoming the following teachers: Blue Chan, Joanne Jones, Sayaka Kanamori, Thiruni Ramanaden and Russell White. At the beginning of Term 2 we will also have three additional Head of Department positions. The selection process for our Head of Department Junior Secondary is nearing completion and we take this time to thanks Christine Ohlsen for her hard work and dedication in this area. Christine has decided to move back to the Primary sector and we are looking forward to her joining that team.

Finally I would like to welcome Principal John Clark back from his leave and wish him and the wider school community all the very best for the future. It has been a pleasure fulfilling the role of Principal in John’s absence and I have relished every moment of my time at the school.

Kaylene Mladenovic

Mrs Mladenovic
Principal (Acting)

Deputy Principal’s Report

Our students from P – 12 will have the exciting opportunity to perform our school song “Distance is no Barrier” at the Isolated Children’s Parents and Citizen’s (ICPA) State Conference to be held in Charters Towers on 5/6 June 2019. Students will be led by Mr David Jackson, a fresh face to us at the school who brings many years of experience as a passionate arts educator who believes in the value of live arts on the lives of young people. While working at the Queensland Arts Council as the Primary Education Liaison Officer, he completed his Masters Research study that followed the development of an original QAC touring production which he documented as a feature film. During his time with QAC he also collaborated with Distance Education at Longreach, coordinating a week-long artist in residence program for their mini school. His dedication to regional and remote communities is also evidenced in the projects he has delivered in Mount Isa, Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama and Normanton in addition to supporting the touring QAC performances.

We will launch our involvement in the ICPA conference at the Athletics Carnival on Thursday 4 April. Students will receive a copy of the lyrics and will hear the song which tells the story of our unique school. The song lyrics and track will also be available for download on our school website at the link below:

For more information about the project, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Jackson on djack25@eq.edu.au or direct telephone 4754 6923. We encourage as many families to get involved in this wonderful opportunity to showcase our talented students’ musical abilities.

Each year, our students in grades 2 to 6 have the opportunity to complete ICAS Assessments through the University Of New South Wales (UNSW). ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise and reward academic excellence in subject areas such as Digital Technologies, Science, Writing, Spelling, English & Maths. These assessments are based on the curriculum for the student’s current year level. Each student who participates receives a certificate and students with the top score in each subject and each year level, receives a medal.

This year, the UNSW has changed how these assessments can be delivered. In the past, we had access to paper copies for students to complete. This year, the majority of the assessments must be completed online and are only “open” on particular days.

If you would like your child to participate in these assessments this year, please see the table below for the dates these tests will be held and the costs per student. Please note students will be required to come into the school to complete the assessments.

**Offline Assessments are available for Years 3 & 4 writing only. These assessments must be completed at school and supervised by a registered teacher.

If you would like your child to sit one of the above assessments, and your child is able to come into the school on the above dates to participate, please email Tash Weston at nwest26@eq.edu.au before Thursday 1st August so the school can register.

Mr Burke
Deputy Principal

Lesley Griffin

Australian Government Flood Education Supplement

P & C Information

Quilt Raffle

P&C Athletics Carnival

CTSDE P & C will be catering for Sports Days on Thursday 4 & Friday 5 April. There will be steak burgers, sausages in bread, drinks including water, poppers and soft drinks and a small selection of lollies and chips for sale.

The Charters Towers ICPA branch will be running their coffee machine on both days to raise funds for the Charters Towers ICPA Sports Camp.

Please support both the CTSDE P & C and CT ICPA.

Amanda Clark
P&C President

Year 3

What the Year 3’s have been up to this term!

Have you ever wanted to be able to convince your parents or teachers to do exactly what you want them to do? To have a secret super power that has people doing exactly what you think? Well the current Year 3 students have shown they can do exactly that with their powers of persuasive writing! Using their wonderful lectern (thanks Mrs Currin) at Home Tutor School, 3A & 3B students argued their points fiercely and convinced their teachers to do just as they wished! Wouldn’t you love to have this terrific super power too? Well you definitely can if you learn to study persuasive writing!

Year 3 students also investigated how big the eating area is compared to their school desk and showed the teachers how to chill out in the swimming pool after a long day (thanks for coming Miss Johnson). Back at school, everyone enjoyed racing the clock for quick addition and quick grammar, however the pace slowed down and students showed how neat they could write with their handwriting skills.

Miss Nelson’s koala chalk pastel lesson is always a big favourite and every student did a fantastic job! Luckily, everyone had previously washed off the sticky chocolate from the delicious rocky roads that the students had made the day before - from their own invented recipes! (Thanks Miss Pim for helping).

Year 3 students continue to learn outside of Home Tutor School and Mrs Purdie and Miss Nelson are looking forward to reading their tantalising tales written in the narrative genre, their spinner chance experiments, their Get Active Journals for HPE and their historical reflections.

We also look forward to seeing the Year 3 students put their Athletics skills to the test on Athletics Day. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

Mrs Purdie and Miss Nelson
Year 3 Teachers

Year 9

This week, our year nine students will be finalising their plans for a school’s water storage system. As Australians, we’re no strangers to water shortages, and the necessity of storing the precious liquid when the rain does fall. Between the years of 2007 and 2013, great strides were made in the percentages of Australian households using rainwater tanks. Queensland saw a particularly large growth, showing an increase from 18.4% to 47% of suitable homes in capital cities having a rainwater tank. The percentage of homes with tanks was typically even greater outside of capital cities!

Graph 1: Households with a rainwater tank installed, By state capital city 2007, 2010, 2013. From Australian Bureau of Statistics (2019)

With their mathematical prowess, your year nine students have devised a plan to assist a school in capturing and using the water for various purposes from watering a vegetable garden to flushing the school’s toilets. They have found dimensions of buildings accurately using scale drawings of the school’s buildings, and analysed rainfall data to make predictions for future rainfall. With the measurements of the buildings and the predicted height of rainfall, our young planners have found an approximate volume of rainfall that will be captured by their chosen roofs.

The final step in the planning is to consider the appropriate type, size, and number of rainwater tanks. In this step, they have considered practical limitations of the tanks, including physical space available, the capacity needed, and so on.

I am sure that the theoretical school they are devising the plan for will be eternally thankful for year nine’s mammoth efforts in planning this water storage system. If Charters Towers SDE finds itself in need of a water storage system, I’ll certainly be recommending our perceptive young planners.

Miss Chan
Year 9 Teacher

Year 10

Year 10 Poetry

There is almost no limit to how one can express themselves, whether it be through music, art or dance. For some, self-expression is a rather easy thing to do. For others, it can be a daunting prospect. To express your ideas and emotions in the form of poetry is like any other form of self-expression; no limitations.

My fellow year 10 English teachers and I have reinforced this idea with our students over the past month and we have some fantastic poems being shared with us. We have been fortunate enough to have students write about their hobbies such as photography, how they work on their family farms and even poems expressing their opinions on international events.

Although we’ll be moving on to a new topic at the start of next term, it would be amazing to see everyone continue to practice their creative writing skills. Whether that be in the form of poetry, story writing or even song lyrics, hopefully this experience inspires our students to continue experimenting with creative writing as a form of self-expression.

Mr Ridler
Year 10 Teacher

Townsville Outreach

Townsville Outreach a Success

Secondary School conducted its first Townsville Outreach in Week 8. The event was attended by a high number of our students from year 7 right through to Year 12. Ms Bottrill, Mr Newman, Mrs Oss, Mrs Shaw and Mr Jackson were on hand to work with the students to provide assistance with their class work and any assessment tasks. A highlight of the day happened during the breaks with two games of UNO that proved popular with the students. The games provided a much needed change of pace and some social interaction that we sometimes miss out on when working at home. Many laughs were had! (Please note that Mr Jackson is still wondering about the legitimacy of the ‘house rules’ seen during the UNO games.)

Here’s what the students thought:

"It was fun how people we did not know that well, could come together and play a game. A simple card game made friendships between students and teachers, until the teachers have to pick up 8" – M, Year 12.

"This was my first time going to the Townsville Outreach and I enjoyed it a lot. I received helpful feedback on my English Assessment and spent some time with my friends. I will definitely be going again." H, Year 12.

“I like that I get one on one support with the teachers” – T, Year 8.

Outreach is a highlight for many of our students and teachers. It is an opportunity to obtain further support and assistance with any academic work. Our next Townsville Outreach is planned for Term 2 and information will be distributed closer to the event. We do encourage our students to attend this academic experience. It’s a great way to consolidate your learning, a great opportunity to meet the teachers you rarely get to see and a wonderful chance to get to know your fellow students.

Mr D. Jackson
Townsville Outreach Teachers

Student Council

National Young Leader Day

Student Council members gather with other young leaders.

National Young Leaders Day (NYLD) is a nationwide conference that takes place in major cities all over Australia. Myself, and a few fellow Student Council members (Sally Broad, Tom Kirkwood and Lochie Appleton) attended this conference in Brisbane on the 1st March 2019. Guest speakers from all over Australia came to tell us about their hardships, and achievements, and how they faced them. Cate Campbell (Olympic Swimmer), Matt Cosgrove (Children’s Author/Illustrator), Tim Diamond (Cotton On Foundation) and John Coutis (Amputated Legs) each had their own stories to tell and everyone listened intently. NYLD was a fantastic and enriching experience. I’m so grateful to the Broad family for privileging us with this amazing experience.

Zarah Moller, 2019 Primary School Captain

Left to Right: Zarah Moller, Tom Kirkwood, Lochie Appleton, Sally Broad

Left to Right: Lochie Appleton, Tom Kirkwood, Sally Broad, Zarah Moller

Secondary School Captains

Primary School Captains

Secondary House Captains

Primary House Captains

Secondary Representative

Primary Representatives

Student Council Teacher Coordinators:

• Colleen Purdie
• Richard Newman
• Jai Ridler
• Ros Ferguson
• Gawai Cheng

School Psychologist

This term has been filled to the brim with events and activities – some exciting and some that has tested our resilience and strength. As this term comes to a close, I would like to thank all of the families I have had the opportunity to meet and work with thus far, and encourage any family in need of support to reach out when they can.

Before finishing off this term, I’d like to share with you a little bit about Autism Spectrum as we approach Autism Awareness Day on the 2nd April. Autism is a developmental condition that is characterised by difficulties in communication, social interaction and/or restricted/repetitive interests and behaviour. These difficulties or differences can occur on a spectrum, and it is important to recognise that Autism is different for each individual. After all, it’s said that once you meet one person with Autism, you’ve met one person with Autism.

When working with children, I often explain Autism as a different way of seeing and understanding the world. Some students manage really well and need little to no support, whereas others need a lot more scaffolding. These varying needs can sometimes affect how a student engages in school, and to ensure their success in school it may be necessary to make adjustments to better support them. Below are some tips for home tutors to support school engagement for young people with Autism Spectrum:

• Make it interesting – where possible include their interest area in their work or in their workspace
• Check the workspace – do they have sensory needs and does their working environment meet them (i.e. is the lighting right, do they need movement, what are the noise levels, etc.)
• Keep a routine for study and class time, and advise of changes well in advance
• Use visuals – this can be particularly good if they struggle to communicate when they might be having difficulty or when they need a break

I encourage you to try some of the tips above, and tweak and adjust them for your student’s needs. I also encourage you to share your unique tips with your teachers and help them to get a better understanding of the individual student.

If you’d like any more information on Autism or more information on young people in general please check out the below websites.

Please also see what events are happening around your local area and get involved with Autism Awareness Day.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Until next time, I hope you all have an enjoyable and revitalising school holidays.

Ms Crothers
School Psychologist (provisional)

Spine Society of Australia

Home Tutor School – Lost Property

These are the items left at the school after Home Tutor School Week.

If they are yours, please let the school know or you can collect them at the Athletics Carnival.

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