2019 March 21 schools

AROUND THE SCHOOLS

Kennedy State Primary school leasers 2019

Tully High’s Greatest Shave

TULLY High School students raised a record amount of over $1000 last Friday for the Leukaemia Foundation.

The outstanding contributor was Luke Hurst, a Year 12 student, who collected $808.00 in donations, mostly from knocking on doors and promoting the cause. He far exceeded his initial gaol of $500, collecting sponsorships in a concentrated burst of just one week.

In front of a crowd of appreciative students, Luke lost his hair curl by golden curl at the hands of Teacher Aide Belle Appelgren and Ella Wagner, Vice-President of the Student Leadership Team (SLT).

Other members of the SLT, who are active fund-raisers and organisers of student well-being events at the school, took charge of spraying and waxing.

Students paid $3.00 to have

their hair colour sprayed or endured the exquisite pain of hair removal by wax strip.

Each year Tully High School students contribute to a range of causes as well as raise funds specifically for the school. A recent Free Dress Day and SnoCone stall organised by the SLT resulted in a donation of $600 to the flood-stricken Oonoomba State School in Townsville.

Tully State High School students in attendance at last Fridays fundraiser for the Leukaemia foundation.

Back row: CCRC Glen Raleigh Principal and Jo McCullagh. Front row: Jack, Clayton and Cooper.

Shane Crole from Cardwell IGA, Jack and Clayton (School Captains) receiving Kennedy state school received a donation of $500 donation from Cardwell IGA.

Feluga State School’s Daily Rubbish Audit

FELUGA State School’s Year 3 to 6 class has been conducting a daily rubbish audit for the past 5 weeks of the 2019 school year. The aims of the exercise are to assess what types of rubbish are generated by the school population and what strategies can be employed to reduce, reuse, repurpose or recycle school waste. Five broad categories have been used in the audit: compostable substances, straws, zip-lock bags, other plastics and 10 cent recyclable containers.

As at the end of week five, 30 kilograms of compostable material have been added to

the school composting system for later use in the gardens; the school P and C committee have registered with Containers for Change and containers are being collected for return; numbers of straws, zip-lock bags and other plastics are being specifically targeted and alternatives are being proposed; labelled bins are being used to separate these types of waste.

Students are organizing a program to educate both fellow students and parents on ways to change how lunchboxes are put together, how to eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging, how containers can be taken

home, washed and reused and how simple changes to our daily routines can have a great impact on our waste “footprint.”

“Plastic is so permanent and so indestructible that when you’ve tossed it in the ocean or even into a rubbish bin, it does not go away,” says Sir David Attenborough. It is estimated that there are over 190 billion pieces of plastic in Australia’s marine environment (CSIRO data) and the number is increasing each year. Small steps, such as those taken by Feluga State School, can help to create big changes.

Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, March 21, 2018 Page 15

AROUND THE SCHOOLS

South Johnstone State School students are engaged learners

MARIA GIRGENTI

SOUTH Johnstone State School started the year on a positive note with 45 students including eight new students.

The school welcomed back Prep to Year 3 teacher Maryellen Butler after a year and 2019 sees teacher aide Dianne Dodson clock up 40 years of service at the school and fellow teacher aide Trish Rutter reaching 10 years.

Principal Christine Pascoe said she was excited at the busy year ahead, with a number of events on the school calendar.

“Staff are continually striving to give the very best education to all children. Our staff are highly focused on delivering high achievements in reading, writing and numeracy and on creating a happy, supportive environment to develop our students’ personal learning in all areas.

“We’re also excited to now have EFTPOS facilities for payment of school fees, as well as SMS For Schools which will enable us to keep track of student absences and highlight

the importance of Every Day Counts, as we try to maintain high attendance rates aiming for our target of over 95%.”

South Johnstone is a Reef Guardian School and has the only Daniel Morcombe Memorial Garden which was officially opened by Bruce and Denise Morcombe last year.

Recently, the school acquired eight new laptops for all students with four in each classroom.

Students who achieved above Band 4 in NAPLAN will have access to IMPACT online program which will improve their knowledge in maths, reading and writing.

Every day students strive to uphold the five Bs - Be a learner, Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Resilient and Be Safe and the school’s motto of Effort Equals Outcome.

The school is also in the process of putting plaques on the ANZAC Wall of former students and residents who made the ultimate sacrifice, with 100 names being honoured.

South Johnstone State School community has access

to a chaplaincy service which provides spiritual, ethical, and personal support.

SU Qld Chaplain, Sharon Marks provides positive adult role modelling for students. Her role is to care for students struggling with issues such as difficult relationships with other children or family members, poor self-esteem, family breakdown and depression.

The school community donated a stack of essential items to the flood victims in Townsville and also ran a free dress day and sausage sizzle and the funds raised went to Drought Angels.

Upcoming events at the school this term include Harmony Day and Book Fair ‘at the beach’ dress up day and Orange Sky fundraiser. Students have also been busy practicing for Innisfail Young Performers competition in May. Enrolments are still open from Prep to Year 6 and further information can be obtained by contacting the school on 4064 2182.

Clancy victorious at Good Counsel College Inter-house Swimming Carnival

MARIA GIRGENTI

HUNDREDS of Good Counsel College students recently took part in the annual inter-house swimming carnival at the Innisfail Town Pool in a full day of competition and fun events including house dash and relays.

The day was beautiful and students were in high spirits in the pool and out. There was some great swimming, games for mass participation and even some cool dance moves around the pool.

House themes on the day were Marcellin Mario, Mackillop Marine, Polding Pacific and Clancy Circus and each area was decorated by their respective team captains.

Extra points were awarded for house war cries, use of sunscreen, participation, positive sportsmanship, team spirit, costumes, best dressed house and cleanest and tidiest house and the total of these points determined the Spirt Cup winner.

The lean, green Clancy Circus were the overall house winners on the day with followed

by Polding in second place, Marcellin in third and Mackillop in fourth while Polding Pacific took out the Spirit Cup. In an upset win the Clancy house took out the championship defeating usual victors, Polding. Upon hearing the announcement of Clancy’s win, their Middle Leader Brenton Pappas jumped into the pool in celebration.

The age champions are determined by how many points students had earned from winning or placing highly in a number of swimming races throughout the day. All students who swam in a race received points for their house while more points were allocated to students’ respective houses if they placed first, second and third in a race.

Age champions were as follows: 12 years Female - Natalie Cook; Runners up: Bella Poljak and Ammie Bensi

Clancy house captains Rebecca Piccolo and Danae Pedrola with the overall winning trophy.

Prep and Year 1 students at South Johnstone State School with Prep to Year 3 teacher Mary-Ellen Butler and teacher aides, Trish Rutter and Dianne Dodson.

Principal Christine Pascoe with South Johnstone State School Year 5/6 students (Back): Riley Clifton, Azariah Horton and Benjamin Klever-Kamp. Front: Jamie Pedley (captain), Jason Parrish (Waratahs sports captain), Isabella Wood, Hamish Darveniza and Marshall Koop (Assistant leaders).

Page 16 Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, March 21, 2019

12 years Male - Kodi Worth; Runner up: Alexander Sutton 13 years Female - Kari Cini; Runner up: Leah Peake 13 years Male - Stewart Edwards; Runner up: Jesse Catelan 14 years Female - Rylee Jones; Runner up: Julia Thompson 14 years Male - Luke Magnanini; Runner up: Baylee Worth 15 years Female - Erin Darveniza; Runner up: Tamsin Darveniza 15 years Male - Ryan Pedrola; Runner up: Thomas Herbert 16 years Female - Jessica Magnanini; Runner up: Caitlin Spinella 16 years Male - Simeon Edwards; Runner up: Bryce Maley 17 - 19 years Female - Gabrielle Hall; Runner up: Molly Stager 17 - 19 years Male - Daley Jones; Runner up: Luke Thompson

Polding house captains Daley Jones and Rizzelin Tumaca were presented with the Spirit Cup.

El Arish State School Hosted Prominent Educational Theorist

LAST week Monday March 11, El Arish State School has a once in a lifetime opportunity to host one of Australia’s prominent educational theorists, Mr John Fleming.

John’s Explicit Instruction Model advocates a dramatic shift in the way primary school children are taught, and educators across Australia are listening because his results are so impressive. In his model teachers closely direct student learning. It differs from the dominant inquiry model, where teachers guide students and encourage them to discover answers for themselves.

As head of the Haileybury College Berwick campus in Victoria, John has a track record that suggests explicit teaching works. Last year, his year three students recorded results well above the state average in literacy and numeracy – two years ahead of their peers in reading and three years ahead in maths.

Before John Fleming arrived at the school, the year threes were only just ahead of state benchmarks.

When he was principal of Bellfield Primary, one of Victoria’s most disadvantaged schools, students were drawn largely from single-parent families and homes where English was not the first language. More than 80% of parents did not work and many were illiterate.

In 1996, 80% of Bellfield students were performing well below the state average in literacy and numeracy. By 2005, John Fleming’s school was one of the best performing in Victoria.

Australian Council Educational

Research’s research director, Professor Steve Dinham suggests, “The evidence is overwhelming. Direct instruction and explicit teaching is two to three times more effective than inquiry-based or problem based learning.”

All of the staff from El Arish SS, as well as teachers and principals from Lower Tully, Tully and Cardwell, spent the day with John learning from him about his explicit instruction model and how we as a school can make our curriculum even better for our students. We look forward to working further with John throughout the year when he visits Far North Queensland.