Issue 11 Friday 5 August 2022

Notification

Acting Principal Sonya Wilson

Dear Parents and Carers

Consolidation Sprints

As part of our School Improvement Agenda, staff are committed to continuing to provide a structured and tailored response to intervention and enrichment for our students. 

This year, staff at Carbrook will be engaging in Professional Learning Teams to plan, teach and monitor student learning at a micro level. This involves teachers engaging in a five-week cycle of inquiry to analyse numeracy data and identify a targeted learning focus that students have not yet mastered.

As a classroom teacher cannot realistically provide intensive, targeted support solely, as a school we have recognised the need to work collaboratively to give our students the best possible opportunity to acquire and learn skills at their level of need, especially where there is a deficiency in their learning.

Every student in Years 1 – 6 will engage in a Consolidation Sprint each week. This involves the class being differentiated into four groups and working intensively with a teacher on a concept that they need to master.  Every group is provided with a teacher to support them in their learning. The teacher sets goals for the students, tracks and monitors their learning and provides feedback on how they are progressing. Parents will receive feedback on their child’s progress on their learning goal at the end of the five week Sprint.

In Prep, there is a focus on targeted learning in four areas of the Literacy Continuum: Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Concepts of Print and Comprehension. The prep students engage in 3 intensive lessons a week with a support teacher to develop their skills in these four areas of Literacy.

Each class teacher is supported by members of the SEP Team or Academic Performance Team. This is a very exciting initiative for our students to ensure they are mastering the necessary skills to be able to successfully access the year level curriculum standard.

 At the end of next week, parents will receive a copy of their child’s learning goal that they have been working on and the progress they have made in achieving their goal. Please look out for these on Friday 12 August.

This is proving to be a very busy term again and the following events have been scheduled.

Science Week 15-19 August

National Science Week is coming! Carbrook SS is very excited to have Street Science visiting for a whole school event on Thursday 18 August. A huge thank you to the Carbrook SS P&C who have paid for every student to attend this amazing experience. See below for more information on this truly engaging resentation! 

https://www.streetscience.com.au/national-science-week/

Street Science celebrates National Science Week 2022 ‘Glass: More than meets the eye’ with our smashing stage show ‘BREAKING POINT’. Glass: it’s been around for centuries and is everywhere in our lives – windows, doors, eyewear, screens; not a day goes by without touching glass… but what exactly is this marvellous material?

In this all-new action-packed show, Street Science will crack open the science of glass, with presenters exploring common questions about how it’s made and used.   Audiences will get CHARGED UP learning lightning's role, ogle over the optics of glasses and magnification, and have a smashing good time testing the strengths and weakness of the glass types we interact with every single day.

This epic show has been designed and specifically tailored to align with the 2022 National Science Week school’s theme.  Students will gain exciting insights into the chemistry, physics, and sustainability of this valuable resource, complementing curriculum learnings in a way they’ll never forget.

Book Week 22-26 August

Book Week is a time for schools, libraries, authors, illustrators and children to celebrate Australian Children’s literature.  Of course, we celebrate books every single day at our school, but Book Week highlights those books that have been shortlisted for National Awards and closer to book week, awards are announced for some of the best books in Australia.  Library Monitors are currently sharing some of these books  with students and staff at our weekly parade. 

Getting ready also means locking in our diaries our Book Week Dress Up Parade, to be held on Wednesday 24 August.   We wonder what you might create this year?

Our Book Week Scholastic Book Fair will be open on Tuesday 6 September until Monday 13 September 2022.  Book displays will be set up in the prep demountable, for students and parents to view. There will be a HUGE range of books starting from just a few dollars as well as stationery, posters, pens etc.   

Parent Teacher Interviews

Our Term 3 Parent teacher interviews will be held in Weeks 9 and 10. To secure an interview spot, we will again offer the online booking option. This will be communicated in the coming weeks.

Swimming and Water Safety Program

As part of our Physical Education and Health Program, Carbrook State School organises a Learn to Swim program for all students in Years 1, 3 and 5. This is to ensure swimming is taught throughout a child’s schooling. The program aims to familiarise children with the water and introduce them to swimming skills suited to their level.

The Swimming program will be conducted in Week 10 of this term, at the YMCA heated pool at Victoria Point. The program will be held by their swim instructors. Students will attend swimming lessons every school day from Monday 12 – Friday 16 September. Each lesson runs for approximately 30 minutes. At the beginning of the program students will be organised into small groups. These groups will be determined by student ability from beginner to advanced swimmers. This means that the needs of each child can be better managed. Each group will have a designated, qualified swim instructor with them at all times. The swimming program focuses on building confidence in the water, developing and maintaining swimming strokes and teaching safety around water. These are vital skills which all Australian children need.

The school covers the cost of the swimming lessons as part of our curriculum, however, we do require parents to cover the cost of the bus transport. All students participating in this program are required to travel by bus, which will shuttle each group between Carbrook State School and YMCA. Parents will be invoiced closer to the date.

Surf Life Saving Queensland-Beach Safety Program for students in Prep, Year 2, 4 and 6.  All students are provided with the opportunity to engage in appropriate surf and beach safety.

The Beach Safety program will be conducted in Week 10 (dates TBA) of this term by instructors from the Surf Life Saving Queensland. It is held on the Raby Bay foreshore and beach area. Students will attend a single 3 hour program. Students will attend the excursion with their class and will be organised into small groups for the activities.

The Beach Safe practical session combines dry and water based activities designed to be fun, interactive and a great way to educate children/adults on the important aspects of sun, surf and beach safety.  It also increases their skills and confidence in the water and on the beach. Important safety information is integrated into activities such as swim survival, rescues, board paddling and beach games.

The cost of the Beach Safety Program includes a 3 hour practical session with beaks in between, transport to and from the beach.  All students participating in this program are required to travel by bus, the bus will leave at 9:30 and return at 2:30.

Sporting Opportunities

As a school we value academic learning but we also know the benefits of physical activity. It is for this reason that we have sought opportunities for our students to participate in planned sporting events. This term students have represented Carbrook State School at District Trials.

 Three students progressed to trial for the South Coast Athletics team as they qualified  for their age in the Pacific District Athletics Trials. 

These students were

Bryce S– qualified in shot put, finishing in the top 5 for his age

Tia K – qualified in 100m, finishing in the top 6 for her age

Felicity S – qualified in shot, put finishing in 3rd for her age

Congratulations to all three students. We now know that Felicity has been successful and is progressing to the next level of competition.

Additional opportunities are available for students through Basketball Queensland, who have announced that they are expanding their CBSQ Competitions to include a Primary 3v3 Competition for students in Years 5 and 6.  On the back of our recent school’s  interest in basketball, Carbrook State School will be entering 2 teams in this exciting 3 verses 3, two day tournament. The team will consist of 4-5 players that will compete over two days against school teams from across the state. Mrs Melissa Dillon will accompany the two teams to the event on 25 and 26 August.

Cyberwise and Cybersafe

To support our students to be Cyberwise and Cybersafe, we have arranged for a cybersafety lesson to be delivered to our Year 6 cohort on 8 September by the Department’s Cybersafety and Reputation Management Team.  

Staffing Update

Mr Brett Reese, our Physical Education teacher is leaving us to take up a full-time position at Regents Park State School. 

We wish Brett all the very best at his new school and thank him for his dedication, support and commitment to Carbrook State School.  Brett will be greatly missed.

We will advise as to Brett’s replacement in the near future.

Kind regards

Sonya Wilson

Deputy Principal Kerry-Ann Reese

Celebration of Learning

This year, Carbrook State School will host our 2022 Celebration of Learning evening on 8September. We will open the classrooms to showcase student learning in various areas of the curriculum including the ARTs, Science, Technology, English and Numeracy. Classrooms will be open from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. Families will be welcome to visit classrooms and view the great learning that has occurred in each class/year level at leisure. All children are to be accompanied by an adult at all times. We look forward to celebrating the achievements of our Carbrook kids with you all.

Enrol now for 2023

Literacy and Numeracy Coach Leonie Barnham

Mental Computation Continued.   

In the last newsletter I wrote about the importance of students having embedded mental computation skills.  This week I am sharing some of the beginning strategies that can be applied to ensure accuracy and increased speed when calculating. 

The more these strategies are applied, they become innate and are applied with automaticity. 

The following strategies may be useful when your child is completing homework tasks, or in real life situations when shopping or budgeting pocket money. 

Zeros

Zeros strategy is when all a number is taken, for example, 4 – 4 where the answer is 0 or where none is taken, for example, 4 – 0 where there is nothing taken, and the answer remains the same as the beginning number.

Count On

Counting-on is one of the simple but powerful mental math strategies children can learn and is the easiest for most students- Counting-on means a child mentally says the biggest number to add, and then counts-up the second number, one (or two) at a time. For example, in the equation 5 + 3, you start with the 5 in your head, and then count up: . . . 6, 7, 8. You might suggest to your children that if they want to add 2 + 6 in their head, they should start with the bigger number, in this case 6, and count up (. . . 7, 8) since, with addition, you can add numbers in any order and get the same answer—order does not matter. This is called the commutative property of addition.

Count up

The ‘count up’ strategy can be used when the numbers in the subtraction fact are close together. Students find the difference between numbers by ‘counting up’ from the smaller number to the larger number. For example, with 8 - 6, students start from 6 and then ‘count up’ to 8, using fingers, counters, or a number line to keep track of the number of ‘jumps.

Count back

 ‘Count back’ involves subtracting 0, 1 or 2 from a starting number. For example, with 6- 2, students begin with six and then count back 2: “6, 5, 4. The answer is 4.”

Turnarounds

The idea of ‘turnarounds’ (or commutative principle) shows students that the order in which addends are joined will not affect the answer. For example, 2+6 is the same as 6+2. (In this case, if the students are familiar with the turnarounds concept, they will be able to use the ‘count on 2’ strategy to solve the problem more quickly).

Doubles

Making use of doubles—5 + 5, 7 + 7, etc.—is a bit harder, but can be very useful for mental math. Doubles come up often in calculations, so if all the single-digit doubles are memorised, students can combine these known facts with the mental math strategies they already know. For example, when faced with the problem 76 + 6, students can think of it as 70 + 6 + 6. If they remember that 6 + 6 = 12, then they can rearrange the problem as 70 + 12, and then again rearrange the problem as 70 + 10 + 2 = 82—making it an easy mental math problem.

Near Doubles

Once students have memorized their doubles, the use of near doubles in mental math follows easily. For example, in the example 5 + 6, if students firstly remember the double 5 + 5 = 10, then it is easy to add one more, getting an answer of 11. Children do not have to memorize the near doubles if they know their doubles. For example, in the equation 37 + 8, when children use the near doubles strategy, it follows that 30 + 7 + 7 + 1 = 30 + 14 + 1 = 44 + 1 = 45. 2

Double multiples of ten

This strategy uses the double strategy and extends it to larger numbers, for example, using 4 + 4 to solve 40 + 40. This can also be extended to the Doubles + 1 strategy, for example, 40 + 50.

Make to 10

Since ten is the basis of our number system, students who know all the single-digit combinations that equal 10 can make good use of them in doing mental math. The making ten strategy involves memorising the number combinations that add to ten: 7 + 3, 8 + 2, 5 + 5, etc.—they are not as useful if children need to think hard to remember these combinations. Once students memorise these, counting-on or other strategies become easier. For example, 6 + 4 = 10 may be a simple problem, but if you know your combinations of ten, this strategy can then be extended to harder problems, such as 76 + 4, since 76 + 4 = 70 + 6 + 4 = 70 + 10 = 80

With mental computation strategies, the adage of ‘practice makes perfect’ applies.  The more your child engages in applying these strategies, the more proficient they will become. 

Dress Up Day

Student Council

Physical Committee

What great enthusiasm we had for our Handball Blitz Competitions! Between the Upper and Junior school competition we had over 100 players. It was fantastic to see so many students being active and having fun together. Everywhere you looked there was cheering, handshaking and kind words being used. The Year 6 referees worked hard in pairs to run and record the games. Well done to all. All the participating Year 1 and 2 students received certificates.

Congratulations to our Handball Blitz Competition winners for Upper School;

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Community Committee

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE for PYJAMA DAY

We have had to change our Pyjama Day date to Thursday 11  August. We are raising money for the Pyjama Foundation to help raise funds and awareness for children in foster care. We are asking students to come dressed in their pjs and bring a gold coin donation. The Student Council will be running a contest on the day where students guess the amount of lollies in a jar. The person with the closest (or exact) guess wins the jar. It is 50c per guess. Please remember that pyjamas will need to be sun safe, appropriate for school and closed in shoes must be worn.

STEM Sheri Walls

Prep A

3A & 3B Wildlife Incursion

On Wednesday 3 August, Year 3 students were fortunate to be able to engage with native wildlife through the Wild Rangers program. They explored the different characteristics and adaptations of animals within the reptile, mammal and bird groups. Topics covered included the diets, habitats and appearances of the specific animals, which linked to the learning that our year 3 students are currently doing in science and writing. As it was a hands-on and interactive experience, students were able to share their knowledge about living and non-living things; the features and adaptations that these animals had, depending on their diet and/or their type of habitat; as well as their understanding of the different types of animal groups.  

Students were lucky enough to touch and hold a Blue Tongue Lizard, a Bearded Dragon, a Long-Necked Turtle, a Carpet Python, baby Salt-Water Crocodile, a Tawny Frogmouth and a positively gorgeous Squirrel Glider. They had an amazing time and learned many new facts that will help them with their science and writing units (animal information report) this term.

Several staff members snuck a peak at the animals, although one, who shall not be named, declined getting up close and personal with the python!

A huge thank you to Indy, from Wild Rangers, who gave us a wonderful educational experience.

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Library News-Book Fair

It's time to get excited. The posters are up!

Book Fair is coming to Carbrook State School on Tuesday 6 September and will be here until Monday 12 September.

Come along and purchase the best new books and help to earn free books for our library. This is our major library fundraiser for the year, as we will not be holding Book Club during term 3. This will be our chance to earn all those ‘Library Likes’ titles that  students have been requesting.

Eftpos and online payments will be available.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

OSHC Newsletter

Community Announcements

Redland Museum will soon hold its amazing Switch on to Science day in conjunction with National Science Week. This year it will be held from 10:00am to 3:00pm on Monday 8 August, which is the Ekka holiday for the Redland community.   Switch on to Science  is an annual event where museum staff and volunteers operate and demonstrate a wide variety of working vintage equipment and talk about the science and technology principles that make them work.  The museum’s science coordinator, Ross Bower, says “working vintage machines are perfect for demonstrating the basic principle of science because they are simpler than modern machines, and it is much easier to understand how they work”.

Switch on to Science aims to challenge the curious of all ages, and get people to think about the science in our everyday surroundings. Although intended mainly for students, there will be plenty to interest and entertain parents and grandparent too.  One lady who attended with her grandchildren last year had this to say:  “I must express publicly my fulsome appreciation of the outstanding Switch on to Science event held at the Redlands Museum ... All the presenters were generous explaining what they were demonstrating and then in allowing kids to participate in using the machines they were demonstrating. Kids loved them and even shy children became involved when they saw other kids shouting with glee…”

This year a wide variety of activities are planned, including: structures, blacksmithing, crystal radio sets, telephones and switchboards, microscopes, spinning wheel, treddle sewing machine, knitting machine, gramophones, player piano, printing, flintlock firearms, steam engines, internal combustion engines, making butter, rail motor, pendulums and clocks, film cameras, movie cameras and projectors, minerals, bee keeping, and more.

In addition, visitors can enjoy the Laser show by guest presenter Ruben Meerman, ‘The Surfing Scientist’, who will take you on a spectacular science educational journey.  Celebrate National Science Week's theme 'Glass more than meets the eye' and the United Nations International Year of Glass with a light-bending presentation about the wonders of optics and photonics.  Ruben uses laser beams, thermal imaging cameras, spinning mirrors and a fish tank to demonstrate the laws of refraction, reflection, transmission and absorption.  You'll learn what light is 'made of' and how it is used for everything from tattoo removal, scanning barcodes, cutting steel and measuring how fast our moon is drifting off into space.

Find out more by visiting Redland Museum’s website at:  https://www.redlandmuseum.org.au/

Broadbeach Surf Life Saving Club

Broadbeach Surf Life Saving Club is holding its annual Nipper Sign on in the month of August. Our Nipper program is targeted at children aged 5-14 and teaches them surf awareness and safety skills.