Term 1 Welcome School Newsletter

Principal's Message

Join us on the journey! Supporting all learners

It is with great pleasure that I welcome all families to our school. I have been really impressed with the work all staff have been doing to ensure our students return feeling safe, supported and engaged in our curriculum. I do apologise in advance for the continued reference to the Covid crisis. As you are aware, The Department of Education has developed a comprehensive Back to school plan. I would like to take this time to request that we all work in this space politely and cooperatively together. We owe it to our children, as adults across our community to model calm and respectful behaviours. The recommendations are as below and have some limitations to school access. These measures are effective between 7 February to 4 March.

Our Parents & Carers:

• Limitations of visitors – with exception of students experiencing vulnerability, disability and Prep & Year 1.
• Masks - We encourage the wearing of masks
• Efficient visits – Parents & carers are encouraged to be efficient with drop off and collection of their children
• Our office – Access to the front Administration building will be restricted to the Finance and Student Service windows (Eastern side)
• Vaccination – Parents & carers do not have to be vaccinated to enter the school grounds to drop off or collect their child.
• Physical distancing – Please maintain 1.5m where possible

Our Students:

• Students of all ages can attend school regardless of their vaccination status
• Students in Years 3–6 will have access to masks and strongly encouraged to wear them when physical distancing is not possible

Whole School:

• Parade – Full School Parade is postponed until gathering restrictions are lifted
• Parent Open Classroom sessions ­- are postponed until gathering restrictions are lifted
• Practicing good hygiene – this includes regular hand washing, use of hand sanitiser, and regular cleaning of high touch points multiple times per day
• School camps, excursions & mass gathering - postponed until gathering restrictions are lifted
• Rapid Antigens Tests (RATs) - If a staff member or student develops symptoms of COVID-19. while at school, RATs will be made available. Note no staff will be administering RATs on students. Parents/carers will need to collect their child and administer the test at home should they choose to. Our school requests feedback from parents/ carers regarding RAT outcomes if possible.

Our Guiding Policy:

Please refer to the Department of Education 2022 Back to school plan for further details.

Book Packs (Resources) Drop Off: Ready for learning

All families from Prep to Year 3 may drop Book Packs off at their designated classrooms clearly labelled. We encourage Year 4 to 6 families to send Book Pack requirements with their children.

School Uniform Expectations: Building a sense of belonging, pride & respect

Wearing full school uniform everyday supports positive culture, a sense of belonging and pride. Thank-you for supporting our school on this journey. Could I please ask that you assist your children in ensuring the following everyday.

Full school uniform expectation

• TBSS School shirt or sports shirt
• School shorts/ skorts or navy-blue shorts without TBSS logo are permitted
• Socks that are black, blue or white are encouraged (brightly coloured knee-high socks are not permitted)
• Jumpers are encouraged to be our school jacket (jumpers with hoods, brightly coloured, display offensive language or reference are not permitted)
• Sun safe TBSS Hat

Jewellery expectation

• Necklaces, bracelets, anklets or large hoop earrings are not permitted
• Sleepers, studs, medical alert bracelets, watches, religious or memorial references are welcomed

The above school-wide expectations are monitored by all staff. Thank-you for supporting a sense of pride, belonging and respect at our school.

We believe the best way to ensure an inclusive culture is to not wear excessive jewellery, painted nails or make-up. Not only can this be divisive and isolating for our young people, it can present as a safety issue. Thanks again.

High quality professional learning: Our staff are highly valued and enabled

Our teachers have worked industriously over the extended holiday period preparing for high quality learning.  Not only have our staff differentiated Australian Curriculum units to support the shorter term, there have been multiple Master Class learning sessions. One of these included working with a behavioural and linguistic scientist from Peak Performance. This was a hands-on workshop that allowed staff to unpack how the brain works and how we use language to persuade and influence.

MR DAN HOLLIS

PRINCIPAL

Tropical North Learning Academy – Trinity Beach State School

Deputy Principal Prep - Year 2

My name is Martina Jackman and I am the Deputy Principal for years Prep to year 2 including Montessori. My passion is in the Early Years having taught for the majority of my career in these grades. Prior to my start here at Trinity Beach State School, , I was Deputy Principal at Freshwater State School for Prep-2, Principal at Julatten, Alexandra Bay and Laura State Schools with teaching positions in multiple schools in the Mount Isa region and Ravenshoe State School.

2022 is going to be an exciting year. Our focus of “Every student reading, every student succeeding” means that the amazing work the P-2 teachers do everyday, teaching the foundations skills of reading is highlighted and is being shared with the other cohorts. Through collaboration, professional development and coaching, our staff will continue to be the highly valued and enabled educators that they are and our students will benefit and thrive from a consistent approach because every student in our school matters.

To assist with this, our whole school is implementing a systematic synthetic phonics program that has a teaching sequence for reading and spelling which goes across the entire school. Promoting Literacy Development or PLD for short, provides teachers with an innovative, evidence-based approach to literacy and advocates that children’s literacy and learning outcomes are maximized when the areas of literacy, oral language and movement & motor skills are simultaneously targeted.  With this change, we will be working with decodable texts instead of predictable texts in the teaching of reading. Please see the link below for an explanation of the difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiyzP3j7jbk

Due to this change, home reading will look different as well. Students may come home with games with high frequency words or sounds instead of home readers. This is reading practice. Please be assured that students will be getting a much higher level of reading mileage at school every day.

I am looking forward to an exciting year!

Martina Jackman

Deputy Principal Year 3 - 4

Hello and welcome back for 2022,

My name is Emma Taylor, I am the Deputy Principal for years 3 and 4. This is my second year at Trinity Beach State School and I look forward to another year working with my exceptional teaching team and your wonderful children.

This year we look forward to supporting your children with their academic progress through the Australian Curriculum, supporting their reading development through our ‘Every Student Reading, Every Student Succeeding’ improvement agenda and developing their social and emotional wellbeing through our supportive classrooms and specialised programs.

My tips for the start of the year: Lots of sleep, your children have had an extra long holiday and the mental load of a full day at school will exhaust them which may result in some frustrating behaviours at home. Try to engage in positive conversations about school. Rather than asking ‘how was your day?’ try for a more detailed approach ‘what was the best thing about today?’ ‘teach me one thing you learned today?’. Throughout their schooling children will face challenges when communicating with peers as they are developing these skills for life. They will make friends and lose friends. The more emotive we are as parents the more they will focus on the uncomfortable minutes of the day rather than the smiles. Always acknowledge the frustration, ask clarifying questions to show you are listening and confirm the next step or plan if there is a reoccurrence. If it is an ongoing issue share these details with the classroom teacher. 

Trinity Beach State School is a brilliant School and I know that 2022 will be a great year for your child’s education.

Kind regards,

Emma Taylor

Deputy Principal Year 5 - 6

Welcome back for 2022. I hope everyone has had a relaxing break and excited about the new school year.

My name is Leanne Bell, I am the Deputy Principal for years 5 & 6. This is my fourth year at Trinity Beach State School and I look forward to another year working with our highly competent and enthusiastic teaching teams in the upper school and of course seeing our students back, engaged & learning in our classrooms.

Once again, the focus this year in Year 6 will be on getting our students academically and socially ready for the challenges of high school. We have one of the best transitions programs in the state and you will hear more about that throughout the course of the year.

We have a strong student leadership team in 2022. Being in the upper school is seen as a time where all students are given opportunities to develop their leadership skills. This is the focus of both the Year 5 & Year 6 school camps and I encourage all students to attend. Our Year 6 students also have the Reef trip to look forward to later in the year.

Our high achieving Year 5 & 6 students will also be provided with the opportunity to engage in extension programs offered by Smithfield State High School through our partnership in the Tropical North Learning Academy. Letters of offer will go out in the first week of school. All Year 5 students are invited to go on camp this year.

Our school wide improvement agenda this year will focus on supporting reading development through our ‘Every Student Reading: Every Student Succeeding’ initiative. Thank you to those parents who responded to our reading survey and please continue to have conversations with your child about reading.

Last year we had a handful of students participate in Garden Club. Based on the success of this we are introducing another exciting initiative. You will start to see more garden beds, seating  etc. as select students engage in project based learning aligned to their English & Maths curriculums.

Trinity Beach State School is a brilliant School and I know that 2022 will be a great year for your child’s education.

Kind Regards,

Leanne Bell

Guidance Officer

My name is Jenny Ferguson, and I work as the Guidance Officer at Trinity Beach State School.  I support students and families by linking them with relevant supports, and by providing individual learning assessments and counselling assistance to a small number of students.  If you have concerns about your child, it is usually best to discuss this with their class teacher and the relevant Deputy Principal prior to referring them to me.  If you need to contact me, my email is jferg53@eq.edu.au and my direct office number is 40571421.

The start of a school year can be an anxious time for some children.  If you find that your child is worried about the start of the year, excellent resources can be accessed at the following links: https://education.qld.gov.au/initiativesstrategies/Documents/anxiety-about-going-school.pdf

https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/age-6-12/mental-health-conditions-in-children/anxiety

Head of Department Curriculum Year P-6

Hi my name is Alex McDonald, welcome to Term 1 2022. I am the Head of Department Curriculum for Years P-6. This is my second year as HODC at Trinity Beach State School and I look forward to working with our passionate teachers. My work with teachers involves the review and development of curriculum delivery for your child, which supports their academic progress.

This year our focus of ‘Every Student Reading, Every Student Succeeding’ will guide our reading and spelling practices in class. Teachers will implement a synthetic phonics program that will support the teaching of reading and spelling across the school.

2022 will be an amazing year and we look forward to support your child in their academic journey.              

Head of Special Education Services

Welcome to Term 1, 2022

I am Samantha Ilic, and my official job title is Head of Special Education Services (HOSES), however, as Inclusive Education plays an integral role at our school, I am known as Head of the Inclusive Education Team. This is my fifth year at Trinity Beach State School, and I have worked in special education in our region since 2001.

The Inclusive Education Team is made up of a fantastic group of Inclusive Education Teachers, Early Years Pathways Teacher, Support Teachers for Literacy and Numeracy, Inclusive Education Teacher Aides and Speech Language Pathologists. You can find us in the new Inclusive Education Centre, it is a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility and we offer a range of options for students at lunchtimes.

My work at Trinity Beach State School is to improve student outcomes and meet the needs of students with additional needs by identifying and implementing reasonable adjustments. We achieve this by ensuring we have high expectations of our students and involve the right people in our planning. This year we will work collaboratively with families to develop challenging goals for students as we know parents are valued partners on our journey toward an inclusive culture at Trinity Beach State School.

PBL – Positive Behaviour for Learning

PBL – Positive Behaviour for Learning is our Whole School Approach for behaviour. The fundamental philosophy of PBL is that we cannot assume that our students know how to behave at school if they haven’t been explicitly taught the expectations required. Each fortnight our PBL team meets to analyse the behaviour data to determine what needs to be taught or revised in regard to our school expectations. These expectations are then taught as focus skills in the classroom and on parade. The language is used by all staff and the posters are displayed around the school and on our school’s FaceBook page so that they can be reiterated at home. This week our focus skill is ‘Transitions’   

P&C News

Tuckshop News

Back to School Plan

Sports News

Community Notices