School Improvement Agenda for 2022 will continue to focus on improving student outcomes:

• Reading
• Writing
• Differentiation

At the beginning of term 2, I shared the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) with the community.  Click here to access the AIP.

We had the following targets in English:

• Increase the percentage of students across the school achieving an A-B in English from 42.3% to 50%. We achieved 60.5%
• Increase the percentage of students across the school achieving an A-C in English from 85.5% to 90%. We achieved 93%

We’ve engaged in the following actions to lift student achievement:

• Analysed data and identified areas to lift student A/B achievement in English.
• Reviewed student folios of students achieving a D to verify the student hasn’t met the year level achievement standard.
• Continued to develop and implement rigorous assessment and moderation processes to quality assure A-E ratings across year levels.
• Monitored progress of marker students and track progress in reading and writing.
• Provided release time to year levels to work collaboratively and develop rigorous Units of Inquiry aligned to the Australian Curriculum.

We continue to release year level teams to work collaboratively and develop rigorous Units of Inquiry aligned to the Australian Curriculum. Teams are also released to develop summative reading assessments.

For further information on the Australian Curriculum visit https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ 

Australian Curriculum Parent information can be accessed at:  https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/parent-information/

School Opinion Survey

The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted in Term 3 and will close on 12 August 2022. All families, school staff and students in target year levels (5, 6, 8 and 11) will be invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what our school does well, and how we can improve.

An invitation to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey will be emailed to one parent/caregiver per family in the week beginning 11 July.  The invitation will be sent from the Department of Education, not the school, and it will have the subject line School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers. 2022.  Check your junk email folders if you can’t find it.  The survey can be completed as soon as the invitation is received and will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone. 

Parents/caregivers who do not have access to the internet at home are welcome to complete their survey online at the school. School computers/tablets will be available.

Parents as Learners – Inclusion and Disabilities

Most weeks, I include information for parents on inclusion and disabilities.  The purpose of this information sharing is to raise awareness of disabilities and inclusive practices used in the school to support student learning.

Education Queensland provides the following information on Attention deficit/attention deficit hyperactivity disorders

It is normal for children at various stages along the developmental continuum and in different environments to require support to:

• pay attention
• focus
• control their impulsivity
• regulate their emotions
• follow directions and requests from adults.

It may be difficult to determine if the child's inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity could be considered typical for their developmental age. Some children and adolescents struggle to stay focused in the school setting, but focus well in other contexts, while others have difficulties across all settings, for example, school, home and the community.

A student's ability to pay attention is important in the school context and should never be ignored, as the student may miss important learning opportunities, develop learning gaps or fall behind their peer group.

Inattention may include:

• wandering off task
• lacking persistence
• difficulty sustaining focus
• being disorganised.

Hyperactivity may include:

• excessive motor activity such as running, climbing or continually 'on the go'
• excessive tapping, fidgeting, moving or talking
• restlessness.

Impulsivity may include:

• hasty actions that occur in the moment, without thinking through possible consequences
• social intrusiveness, interrupting others, difficulty with turn-taking.

For children with attention deficit/attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (AD/ADHD), there is a persistent pattern of inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development. The symptoms must be present in more than one setting, but may vary due to the differing contexts. For example, some children may sit very quietly and look like they are attending and listening, but their attention is 'miles away'. Others act out behaviourally, for example, fidget, run, climb and speak before they think.

Children with AD/ADHD can attend and focus on tasks that are enjoyable to them, but have difficulty shifting focus or changing tasks when required. In supporting a student with attention and hyperactivity problems, it is important to gather information from multiple sources and across multiple sites and contexts.

It is important to note that AD/ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder resulting from impairment in growth and development of the brain or central nervous system, and affects brain function, emotion, learning ability, self-control and memory. Therefore, children and adolescents with attentional difficulties may require consistent support and structure at school to manage their behaviour and reach their academic potential.

In childhood, ADHD often overlaps with other externalising disorders such as oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder and often co-occurs with specific learning disorders.

More information on AD/ADHD can be found at:

• The ABCs of Mental Health  
• Response Ability fact sheets and podcasts: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder  
• Murdoch Children's Research Institute: Frequently asked questions about ADHD (PDF, 545KB)  .

Reminder: COVID Health Advice
COVID-safe practices
As we have been doing throughout the pandemic, there are key measures we can all take to stay safe. These include staying 1.5 meters away from other people whenever possible, practicing good hygiene such as always washing your hands with soap and water (including before and after eating and going to the toilet), and staying home when sick.

Isolation if COVID positiveThe requirement to isolate for a minimum of 7 full days after contracting COVID-19 remains in place. It is vital to adhere to this requirement to assist with preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Notification to your school Parents are asked to notify the office if their child tests positive for COVID-19.

Face masks Currently, there is no public health requirement for wearing a face mask in schools except in certain circumstances (e.g. for 7 days after having COVID-19, or being a close contact.Wearing masks in state schools is a personal decision for individuals to make and any staff member or student who wishes to wear a face mask will be supported to do so.

Rapid antigen tests Schools are continuing to provide rapid antigen tests (RATs) to staff and students who develop symptoms while at school, and who are close contacts. 
Learning materials if you child is in isolation due to illness

The learning@home website has resources for students in Prep to Year 10. Students are also be able to view quality curriculum-based television programs on three different stations – programming information can be found at Learning@Home TV  

Additional resources are also available at The Learning Place . Students will need their EQ user name and password to access.

Further information on supporting your child, maintaining healthy learning routines and setting up a learning space at home can be found at https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning-at-home/wellbeing-of-students   

Have a great week.
Melissa

 Prep and Year 1 students have spent the past week exploring the 2022 NAIDOC Week theme “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! They celebrated and recognised key perspectives, peoples, histories and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We finished the week with one of our prep students, Hanna T, reading her outstanding writing piece on ‘Tiddalick the Frog’ to the whole school at parade! It was a wonderful way to finish the week! Please enjoy the photo gallery of our students NAIDOC Week activities.

Book Week Parade – Thursday 25^th August– Dreaming with eyes open…

We are excited to announce we will be holding our annual Book Week Parade on Thursday 25^th August. Students are invited to embrace this years’ theme “Dreaming with eyes open…’’ Parents /carers are invited to join our celebrations with a student costume walk at 9am. Students will walk through a marked course where parents can assemble and watch our students parade their costumes before entering the hall. One student from each class will be presented the Book Week Costume Class winner by their teacher prior to the parade.

2023 Prep Enrolments are now open!

Enrolments for Prep 2023 are now open for children born between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018. Children must be five (5) by 30 June in the year they enrol. Applications for enrolment will only be accepted for students within the school catchment area (or siblings of a current 2022 student). Unfortunately, we won’t be offering any out of catchment places for 2023. For further information, please contact our school Enrolments Officer, Mrs Amanda Ross on PH: 3340 8333 or E: enrolments@rochedalss.eq.edu.au

Have a great week
Nicola Leslie
Deputy Prep-Yr 1

Editing is Key

Students will hear teachers frequently saying, “Edit your writing.”, “Check your writing before you hand it in.” The response of a student may be to simply skim read it, then hand it in. However, proofreading and editing are essential parts of the writing process from Prep to Year 6. Editing requires students to reread their writing, identifying issues and making improvements to increase the effectiveness of their writing style.

As adults we can be nervous about sending emails with mistakes, and reread them before sending it off for others to read. The reality is that all writers, no matter their age, can make errors. It is important that we develop and foster the editing process to support writing. Having a classroom that acknowledges that errors are normal is important for student growth mindset. Mistakes are opportunities to learn.

Some editing strategies:

• Read writing with a coloured pencil to search for one specific thing at a time e.g. capital letters and full stops, spelling, punctuation, vocab, meaning, structure.
• Read writing aloud to hear the structure of sentences.
• Read to a partner.
• Leave some time after writing the text, come back and reread at a later stage.
• Letting students practice editing on someone else's writing first.
• Read with a teacher/adult for valuable discussion and feedback.

At Rochedale we will continue to develop proofreading and editing skills, as an essential step in the writing process.

Happy writing and reading!

Natasha Floyd
HOD- Curriculum

The following invoices are due for payment as follows. 

PLEASE NOTE 

Due dates for incursions/excursions are final.  No late payments or permission forms will be accepted after the due date.  

Students who have not returned the permission or made payment by the due date, will not be able to particiapate in the activity.

If you have not received an invoice please contact the office. All payments are to be made by our preferred method of BPoint online.

ABSENCE LINE 3340 8388 or

text 0427 890 693 (24 hours)

*******IT IS NOW A REQUIREMENT THAT ALL STUDENT ABSENCES BE REPORTED ON THE DAY OF THE ABSENCE TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE*******

To report a student absence, please call the absence line on 3340 8388 or text our SMS line on 0427 890 693.  These lines are both open 24 hours a day.

When recording an absence on either our phone line or SMS line, please state the following:

1. Your name
2. Student's name
3. Student's class
4. Reason for absence

Please speak clearly and slowly and help us with spelling of names when calling the phone line.

Office Hours

The school office is open each day from 8am to 4pm. 

Student State School Consent

It is the school’s usual practice to take photographs or record images of students and occasionally to publish limited personal information and student materials for the purpose of celebrating student achievement and promoting the school and more broadly celebrating Queensland education. Consent to use your child's name, photograph, voice/video recording or year level is requested at time of enrolment via the "State School Consent Form". If you wish to make changes to consent for your child please request a new State School Consent Form from the school office. 

Facility Hirers

Please find attached the current list of the community groups that hire our school facilities.