Term 3, Week 6

From the Principal - Micheal Grogan

Welcome to Week 6 of Term 3.  This week we began in earnest our preparation for the celebration of our 150^th anniversary in 2025. Last night we had the second meeting of our working party and it was great to see such an enthusiastic group coming together to identify how we can best celebrate our amazing school and school community.

It will be an amazing year of celebration for our school. If you can help in anyway, please get in touch with our P&C. As they say, many hands make light work.

Yesterday I attended a Principal Connect meeting with fellow Principals from Metropolitan North Region and next week I will be away attending a Principal’s Professional Development program with fellow City Collective Principals. These opportunitites are always valuable and a way to both connect with peers, learning with and from one another.

Prep 2025

This week we conducted the first round of interviews for our Prep 2025 cohort. It is always an exciting time and I look forward to welcoming our new families and supporting our new Preps into school in the new year.

Thank You

We are fortunate to be a part of an amazing educational community here in Spring Hill. Our partnerships with All Hallows, Boys and Girls Grammar, IES College and St James allow our students to enhance and broaden their experience her at BCSS. Today we had students and staff from St James here to help us and we would like to thank and acknowledge their efforts. As a school we are grateful for their help and contribution they make, knowing it makes  a positive difference for our students.

Deputy Principal - Nikolas Taufatofua

Dear Families,

I am now really starting to feel like part of the community. Students throughout the school have been greeting me as I visit classrooms. I had the opportunity to meet some of our future students in prep interviews and school tours. It is refreshing to see their excitement as they get to know more about our community.

Students have very much enjoyed being part of our Mini Olympics. Last Thursday we had students jumping over mini-hurdles on the oval. With a little persistence, we may have some 2032 Olympians in the making.

Thanks again to all who attended the P&C! It was lovely to meet more of our families and community. Your enthusiasm and hard work in support of our school and young people is inspiring.

Foundational Reading at Brisbane Central State School

At Brisbane Central State School, we use current evidence-based practice to support our instruction around reading.

The foundational phase of our reading lessons begin in Prep and continue through Year 1 and 2 with systematic synthetic phonics. We ensure that students have a good understanding of grapheme phoneme correspondence (this is the link between spoken sounds and the letters on the page). For example, the word ‘ship’ is made up of three sounds – /sh/ /i/ /p/. The word ‘light’ also has three sounds - /l/ /igh/ /t/.  We teach students systematically, to recognise letter combinations. We start from frequently used letter combinations (basic code) to less common combinations (advanced code).

Alongside this, we teach students the skills of ‘blending’ (for reading) and ‘segmenting’ (for spelling) words. We encourage them to blend the sounds that are written on the page (synthesise) and segment sounds in words they want to write. Students are also taught to recognise ‘sight words’. That is, words that are tricky to decode initially (‘they’, ‘said’, ‘what’ etc).

By learning the skills of segmenting, blending and the recognition of sounds and sight words, we are reducing the cognitive load required to decode text (break the alphabetic code of written text). To memorise every written word in the English language like a symbol on the other hand, would add to our cognitive load. Our aim is for students to read fluently (that is, to recognise words automatically, read at the right speed and with expression), whilst connecting this to their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. The ultimate goal being, successful comprehension of text.

Once our students have exited the phonics program, they consolidate these skills and move into our reading framework that supports a deeper understanding of more complex texts read.  Explicit instruction in reading is combined with the experience of listening to adults and experienced readers read high quality texts.

Jo Gawne

Head of Inclusion

From the Classroom

During this unit the year 6 students in 5/6 Gold have had many opportunities to write news articles about different topics. Here are some examples of what they have written so far.

Year 5 Science

Year 6 Science

In science, the year 6 students in 5/6 Gold have been creating circuits online. These are some of their unrealistic and dangerous circuits that they have designed while inquiring

Book Club

Absentee Photo Day: 22/08/2024

ABSENTEE Photo Day is scheduled for Thursday 22 August 2024.

This day is specifically for students who were unable to participate in the original photo day.  It's a great opportunity for your child to have their school picture taken if they missed the first session due to illness.

If your child was absent during the original photo day, we encourage you to make sure they attend this session.

Students should wear their correct school uniform which is black shirt, black pants or shorts or skort, uniform dress, black shoes.  House shirts and Yr6 Shirts are not permitted in photos.

Orders are still open and payments can be taken up until the 01/09/24 after that date a $15 late fee will apply.

Important Details:

Two easy ways to purchase:

1. Visa, MasterCard or PayPal
2. Cash – complete the envelope supplied and return it to our photographer on photo day

Or visit: www.advancedlife.com.au
And enter online order code: V5E EHQ LM2

Library

ICAS Test Dates 2024

The ICAS tests will be held at BCSS on the following dates.  This may be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.  The test sessions will be held in the morning session and students go to class first and will be directed by their teacher to go to the testing room.  Please feel free to contact Maureen Kelly, mkell83@eq.edu.au, for more information. 

Enrol Now for 2025

Crazy Coco Morning

Gala Day Term 4: Years 4-6

We will be participating in the City District Sports Gala Day Competitions. All students will be playing in various school sports teams for two consecutive Fridays - the 4th and the 11th of October, 2024 (Wet day back up is 25th of October 2024).

The aim of these days is to develop collaborative teambuilding skills, in addition to developing fundamental movement and sporting skills.

Activity details:
- Buses will be leaving from BCSS.
- All participants must meet at the school oval by 8:10am.
- Buses will arrive back at BCSS by approximately 3pm.

Students will be playing in their self-nominated teams.

Competitions will be held at the following locations:
- Girls' Touch Football: Shaw Park
- Boys' Touch Football: Brothers JRLFC, Stafford
- Girls' & Boys' AFL: Zillmere Eagles Football Club
- Girls' & Boys' T20 Cricket: Norths Cricket Club

All students are to stay at the carnival for the required time and are not able to be collected by parents/carers.
The weather will be assessed to provide drink breaks during hot weather and no playing in the case of lightning.
First aid will be accessible at all venues, if required.
Teams will have a staff member present at all games.
Students must wear full sports school uniform and closed shoes.
All students are expected to have their hat, water bottle, a packed lunch and sunscreen.
All student medication (e.g. diabetes, asthma, travel sickness, allergies or anaphylaxis) will be taken to the playing location by school staff.

Excursion costs:
The participation fee for this excursion is yet to be determined, however based on last year, will be between $25-30.
An invoice will be sent out to the fee-paying parent over the next fortnight, payment must be received prior to Wednesday, 13th September for your child to participate.

To participate in the activity outlined, please complete this consent via the link below by Friday Term 3, Week 10.
https://brisbanecss.schoolzineplus.com/form/66 

Should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Lane via email mtlan1eq.edu.au.

Gala Day (Years 4-6) Training

Juicy Tubes

Uniform Shop Hours

Scouts Holiday Outdoor Experience

QParents

Time Out

Keeping your child and other kids healthy!