LOWER TULLY SS MATTERS LOYALTYLOYALTY

TOLERANCETOLERANCE

STRENGTHSTRENGTH

SUCCESSSUCCESS www.lowetullss.eq.edu.au

principal@lowetullss.eq.edu.au 6 Collins Rd,6 Collins Rd,

LOWER TULLY 4854LOWER TULLY 4854

PH: 40 669 351PH: 40 669 351

A/PRINCIPAL: JULIE

MUSUMECI

VOLUME: 14

ISSUE: 2

DATE: 21 March 2017FAMILY NAME:

PRINCIPAL PENS:

I am constantly amazed at the dedication and commitment of the staff in our school, and their genuine desire to do

everything they can to improve the academic, social, emotional, creative, physical and technological development of

our children. In the last couple of weeks, I have been reminded on a daily basis, of the high calibre of fantastic people

who our children have the privilege of spending their days with and learning from, by watching as individual staff

members put the needs of our children before themselves and go far and beyond their call of duty or role description,

to provide them with the tools they need to succeed. We have always known that it is the people who make LTSS

such a special place, and our staff is but one of the groups of people who make our little school so special.

We are often asked how parents can help with their child’s learning at home, and while every student is different, with

varied and complex individual learning needs, there is one tried and tested strategy that WITHOUT FAIL helps to

increase their children’s opportunities for success in learning, and therefore in life. The poster below was added to our

school’s facebook page earlier in the week, and it clearly outlines the effect that just 20 minutes of reading each day

has been PROVEN to have on a child’s learning. It shows a direct correlation between the amount of time spent read-

ing each day, to the likely scores achieved on standardised tests, and so the ball is very firmly in the child’s court as to

which of the students in the poster below they aspire to be. High scores on standardised tests, and just in learning in

general, do not happen by accident. For this reason, we stand firmly by our school’s RAHS (Reading As Homework

Strategy) Policy and encourage all families to curl up together with a good book as often as possible, with no stress, no

pressure – just for the love of reading... because if they love it, they will want to do it more often. Please share this

poster again with your children tonight. Happy Reading! Julie Musumeci, Principal

P&C President: Fiona Bonassi

EVERYDAY

COUNTS

Prep Prep -- Year 1 NewsYear 1 News The Prep and Year 1 classroom is abuzz at the moment with big ideas and big plans for how we can best

learn about money. The children have already set up a toy shop in our classroom, put a price tag on all items

for sale, sorted out the notes and coins of our play money collection into our cash register, made signs for our

shop, and negotiated and allocated roles of shop keepers and customers among their peers. It is fantastic to

see the children so engaged in their learning and using their imaginations and critical thinking skills to solve

problems on their own and in groups.

Their next big idea, to be able to apply everything they have learnt about money, is to hold a tuckshop for

the whole school on the last day of term – Friday 31st March – where the children will produce and sell

some yummy food items to the other classes and staff. The children have been brainstorming all of the won-

derful things we can cook and bake in the lead up, and they are incredibly excited about the prospect of us-

ing REAL MONEY rather than play money. The children will prepare a note to be sent home to the rest

of the school in the next couple of days with further information.

Photos of our fantastic prep and Year 1 children in action...

3

Year 4/5/6: Term 1, Week 9

A big THANK YOU to all the par-ents who attended the 4/5/6 Class Assembly Presentation last Friday. All the children were nervous, but excit-ed to share some of their school ex-periences with their loved ones! Each grade contributed with enthusiasm and hard work, and even gave some of their free time to ensure that all components of their presentations were ready in time for the DEADLINE. It was also extremely edifying as their teacher, to see the various groups of children working so diligently together to achieve a common goal. Even when there were slight differences of opinion – and there were disagree-ments in every grade level – that most times they were able to solve their own problems through talking it through respectfully and reaching a consen-sus.

Growth Mindset in Maths

In general, a growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and ‘smartness’ can also be learned and that the brain grows from experience and effort. The opposite, a fixed mind-set, is the idea that you are smart, or you are not. In maths, that translates into “some peo-ple are good at maths, and some are not.” Did you know that praising efforts rather than intelligence or results can impact your child’s ability to persevere in challenges?! The goal is to have children thrive on challenges and see failures, not as a sign of low intelligence, but as a learning oppor-tunity. Brain research tells us that making mistakes wires more connections into the brain! When a person has a growth mindset, they accept challenges, see their efforts as worthwhile, and are open to learning from mis-takes. Students with a growth mindset achieve at higher levels than those with fixed mindsets. How can you help? Some simple ways:

Adding “yet” when they claim they are “not good at this” (Respond: “You are not good at this yet.”)

Ask questions that focus on their effort and choices and get them to reflect on satisfaction of that effort (e.g. What did you learn today? What mistake did you make that taught you something? What did you try hard at today?)

Model this yourself as you share about your day ABCs of Student Success

B is for BEDTIME

Aaawwwww, Mum! Already? Sound familiar? On average, children need 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Sleep is important for many reasons. Lack of sleep can cause kids to be hypersen-sitive, impatient, or cranky. It is more difficult for children to concentrate and learn when they are tired. (Some doctors even believe that during sleep the brain ‘files away’ what is learned during the day.)

Limiting screen time, TV and handheld devices, a half hour or so before bedtime and encouraging quiet activi-ties – such as reading – offers a transition that helps children relax. Sweet dreams!

TEITZEL’S SUPA IGA ~ CARING FOR OUR COMMUNITY

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK WEEK 8

Alexis Milini Snr Class, Jaqi Isaac Yr 3 and Dallas Gardiner Prep class.

GOSS FROM YRS 2/3 CLASSROOM Well, here we are at the end of term 1 and I must say what an amazing term it has been. We have been busy getting to know one another and setting up our classroom and learning expectations.

Currently, we are busy finishing off our English assessment. The students have learnt so much about persua-sive texts. They are continuously trying to persuade me on different topics.

Since the last newsletter I have started reading The BFG to the students in preparation of our next English unit on narratives. To support this learning the year 3’s have started taking home chapter books for their home readers.

Throughout my teaching training it has been expressed from many different sources the importance of read-ing. Reading is known to be one of the best ways to support your students learning. Whether it be modelled reading, shared reading or independent reading, any reading to your children is great!

Also in Year 2/3 we have been finishing off our technology unit. Students are required to repurpose a discard-ed item into a vase. As well as preparing resources for our Mother's Day presents.

As a reward for the classes hard work throughout the term we are going to have a “make it afternoon” on the last Friday of the term. Where the students will be making small items to be added to the new playground upgrade.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for small garden and craft items to be made please let me know. Have a safe and happy Easter everyone.

Shaye Robson, Classroom teacher.

TEITZEL’S SUPA IGA ~ CARING FOR OUR COMMUNITY

Celebrating Student Achievements

Recently 3 of our Senior students attended the Leadership Camp held at Daradgee Environmental Edu-

cation Centre. Students interacted with a variety of activities and experiences including: leadership skills,

resilience, communication, organisation and public speaking to name a few. Zac Hall, Max Dibella and

Arianna Hyytinen mixed with other students from various district schools where they engaged in team

building and met with High School leaders who encouraged awareness and development of relevant

skills. Our 3 returned all fired up with ideas, activities and enthusiasm which shows they benefitted posi-

tively from this camp. Stay tuned for further updates from this experience.

Sporting Achievement

Arianna Hyytinen has been selected in the 10-12yrs Tully District Netball team to participate in the Pen-

insula Regional Carnival this Friday 24 March. We wish Arianna success and best wishes for the day.

Easter Donations and Raffle Tickets

Keep sending them in!!!!! Donations have

been slow, but some are trickling in every

day. Remember any item big or small is

more than welcome and if you prefer to

send in money, this will be used to pur-

chase Easter goodies.

Easter raffle tickets too are coming in

slowly. Please send in all tickets before

next Thursday 30 March because the

drawing will take place during Assembly

Parade. If you would like more tickets

just give the office a ring.

THANKYOU!!!!! The shed is now clean

and tidy and rid of the vermin that were

happily making their home in this en-

vironment! Our very small band of

helpers which included: Fiona & Brock

Bonassi, Melissa Maifredi, Kellie &

Sean Anderssen, John Kinsella and cou-

ple of his offsiders did a mammoth job

of cleaning, hosing, dumping and jump-

ing (away from the rats!) on Saturday

morning, which left the shed spic and

span with lots of storage space. Thanks

team!!

POSTPONEMENT OF FAMILY NGHT

Due to unforeseen and personal circumstances, the scheduled Family Night for

ths Friday 24 March has had to be postponed. Mrs Musumeci sincerely apolo-

gies for any inconvenience this has caused and is negotiating a new date for next

term.

DIARY DATES: THURSDAY 30 MARCH - Yrs 2 & 3 CLASS ASSEMBLY 2:20pm

Drawing of Easter Raffle

FRIDAY 31 MARCH: 10-12 YRS DISTRICT TOUCH CARNIVAL GALA DAY

Last school day for Term 1 Term 2 begins TUESDAY 18 APRIL