4 March 2021 - Term 1, Week 6

News from Mr Johnson

Dear Parents,
Inquiry-based learning at Ironside – An Introduction
As we begin a new Strategic Cycle in 2021 with a focus on Learning and Teaching (Pedagogy), I’d like to introduce Inquiry-based learning at Ironside to our community through sharing our school story. Where we have come from, where we are presently and where we are heading.

Vision:
‘Outstanding learning and teaching, and commitment to a collaborative culture’
Outstanding learning and teaching at Ironside State School begins with research and evidence to inform practice with an unwavering commitment to individual students. Outstanding learning and teaching at Ironside becomes a whole school approach that is founded upon inquiry learning and authentic assessment practices resulting in precision of pedagogical practice for every student. Outstanding learning and teaching at Ironside State School is evidenced by curious, engaged and reflective people focused on improvement and achievement.

Commitment to a collaborative culture at Ironside State School begins with a strong belief that education is a collective enterprise underpinned by clarity, trust and shared expertise. Commitment to a collaborative culture at Ironside State School becomes a place of meaningful and joint work based on collective responsibility and accountability. Commitment to a collaborative culture at Ironside State School is evidenced by positive and respectful dialogue, challenge and reflection for the purpose of improvement and achievement. 

What is Inquiry-based learning?
Inquiry-based learning encourages curiosity, inspires creativity and places emphasis on the student’s role in the learning process. Students engage through questions, problems or scenarios in an active way, rather than listening passively. They make meaning of what they are learning and understand how this new learning connects to real-world contexts.

Inquiry-based learning prioritises problems that require critical and creative thinking so students can develop their abilities to ask questions, design investigations, interpret evidence, form explanations and arguments and communicate findings.

Where have we come from?
2019 - Ironside State School engaged in our own inquiry, into Inquiry-based learning. 

Why did we do this? It was about student engagement, being learning focused rather than assessment focused.

Our inquiry began with a question. What does it mean to have an inquiry mindset?

While reading Murdoch, K (2015) The Power of Inquiry – Teaching and learning with curiosity, creativity and purpose in the contemporary classroom. Seastar Education, Victoria, Australia.

Staff began to explicitly practise what it means to be an inquirer.  

We wanted to position ourselves as inquirers and learners. This supported us in relating to and being able to empathise with the experiences of our students as they engaged in units of inquiry. With the mental model, ‘We learn the work by doing the work’ (Elmore) staff set personal goals to develop an inquiry mindset and shared these goals with colleagues. This was achieved by collaborating with other team members via discussion, peer observations, visiting other schools and engaging in professional development.

2020 – Horizontal inquiry teams were established. Teams spent time reading and discussing ‘The Power of Inquiry’ by Kath Murdoch which led to further questions on ways to embed an Inquiry-based learning approach through and across the whole school. 

Using existing units of work and with the inquiry mindset that ‘we are all learners’, staff continued to practise and reflect on pedagogical practices.

Key activities included introducing the learner assets of Collaborator, Thinker, Communicator, Self-manager and Researcher (© Kath Murdoch) as well as using thinking routines to encourage deeper thinking, so as to promote curiosity and authentic engagement in our students.

Where are we now?
2021 – Year level teams planning and implementing units of inquiry.

Making connections across Australian Curriculum learning areas. Starting with Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), conceptual connections were made with one other Australian Curriculum learning area.

Teaching staff collaborated to create new units of inquiry to start Term 1, 2021. Below is the whole school (P-6) list of ‘Big Questions’ that is framing our coordinated approach to Inquiry-based learning.

Prep – How do I share and show who I am through stories?
Year 1 – How, when and why do we celebrate significant events?
Year 2 – How do we connect with people in different places?
Year 3 – Are we one or are we many?
Year 4 – Does the past shape the future?
Year 5 - Who has the power?
Year 6 - How are people empowered to enact change for self and others?

Where to from here?
This year we will continue our learning as it relates to developing and implementing a whole school approach to Inquiry-based learning.

We will embed our learner assets – Collaborator, Thinker, Communicator, Self-Manager and Researcher (© Kath Murdoch).

We will practise and build upon our bank of thinking routines for students. Examples of thinking routines include activities like: PMI (Plus/Minus/Interesting), Think/Pair/Share, Y charts,

(Look like/Sound like/feel like), See/Think/Wonder and so on.

Finally and most importantly, we invite you as our parent community to partner with, and join us on our Inquiry-based learning journey. Collaborate, think, communicate, self-manage and research with us. It will be this partnership together that realises our vision – Outstanding learning and teaching, and commitment to a collaborative culture at Ironside State School.  

Inquiry in Action at Ironside

All the best for the week ahead.

The Pocket - Early Education and Care

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Ironside Tennis Championships

News from Mr Murdoch

Dear parents and caregivers,

Bridge Builders - Skill of the week: Feelings and Calming down
Children do choose their behaviour but they do not choose their feelings, and it is their feelings and thinking that influence them the most. This highlights the importance of teaching children to understand their feelings and to be given skills in calming down.

If your child sees you expressing your feelings in a positive way, over time they learn to do the same. Be sure to model appropriate ways to express feelings to your child. Children are like sponges – they soak everything up.

Our thinking can change our feelings, behaviours and the words we say. Listening to our self-talk and thoughts when we are upset and avoiding unhelpful, toxic thoughts and instead thinking helpful positive thoughts can be a very powerful calming tool.

“Empowered for Life”; Jocelyne Chirnside

Around the classrooms – Prep:

Around the classrooms – Year 1: 
We have been exploring how stories work, through listening, reading and viewing a range of written text structures. 1A have enjoyed The Pout Pout series of books, written by Deborah Diesen and illustrated by Dan Hanna.

The students have been making connections between personal experiences and the texts. The technique of wax resist and water wash was used to create our bright illustrations. 1A designed emotion emojis to match the different emotional words in the beginning of the book and at the end of the book, they choose colours to represent the variety of feeling words    

Year 1

Around the classrooms – Year 2: 
On Fridays 2E and 2F join together for Maths Rotations. The students participate in fun and engaging activities that consolidate learning from the week.

News from Mrs Vecchio

LIBRARY NEWS
Congratulations to Library Monitors who have earned their Life Member badges:  Tara B (6D) & Karis K (6A).

Ms Roche is reminding parents to check their child’s Class Library day: Prep – 2 classes have a weekly lesson and Years 3 – 6 classes fortnightly lessons. 

All Prep – 2 students should be prepared for Library by bringing a Library bag for home borrowing.

IRONSIDE STAR IN ACTION

A group of enterprising Year 3 students are on a mission to educate our community about the importance of respecting our natural environment.  They are putting into action one of our new STAR expectations:  RESPECTFUL – Care for Self, Place and Others.

Last week, Year 3 students went on excursion to the Planetarium to expand their scientific knowledge and understanding.  Not only did they achieve this aim, their conduct by all accounts was a credit to Ironside.  Well done, Year 3!

Year 3 Planetarium Excursion

SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES

Thank you to the Strings players who performed ‘welcoming’ music and the National Anthem at the Year 3 – 6 assembly.  Assemblies are held on Friday mornings 9:15 – 9:45am, schedule below.  Seating for family members is provided at the rear of the Hall and we thank you in advance for maintaining the necessary physical distancing.

BRIDGE BUILDERS® NEWS
BRIDGE BUILDERS® is the school-wide program that we use to explicitly teach conflict resolution skills to students in Prep – Year 6.  It promotes positive mental health and social well-being.  As a component of the program, and to support parents in reinforcing learning at home, families of all students in Prep and Year 1 have access to the on-line version of the program.  The lesson (below) is a starting point:

News from Mrs Bairstow

LIFE ED – SEXUAL HEALTH AND RELATIONSHIPS EDUCATION
Life Ed sessions are now underway for students in Years 5 and 6.  Thank you to those parents who were able to attend Tuesday evening’s information session, after the unexpected late cancellation of the session a week prior.  Feedback, as always, has been very positive and we hope that you found value in the evening.
Natalie from Life Ed has provided us with a resource and booklist.  This will be directly to emailed to all families in Years 5 and 6 on Friday 5 March.

STUDENT DIARY – WELLBEING FOCUS
This fortnight’s wellbeing messages are:
Big Thinking:  “You are not a drop in the ocean but an ocean in a drop.” (Author unknown)
Wellbeing activity: Manage your own stress.  Stress can be contagious.  If others are stressed              around you, try to put yourself in a relaxing environment to balance it out.

Be the Good: “Believe There is GOOD in the world”  (Isabel P, 2015)
Wellbeing activity:  Make mornings calmer.  Mornings set the tone for the day.  Plan ahead, leave enough time so you’re not rushed, and the day can launch smoothly and peacefully.

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION
Religious Instruction will commence on Friday 12 March (Week 7).  This is an option available to all students in Years 1 – 6. 

Faith groups who are offering RI this semester are:

          - Buddhist

          - Catholic

          - Combined Christian

          - Islam

As the last week of Term 1 is a short week for Easter, the Term 1 dates for RI lessons will be 12, 19 & 26 March.  In terms 2 – 4, RI will run from Weeks 2 – 9 each term, as it has in previous years.

These dates are:
Term 2:  30 April – 18 June
Term 3:  23 July – 10 September
Term 4:  15 October – 26 November (finish Week 8 due to end of year school assemblies in Week 9)

The time allocations for instruction on Fridays will remain the same.
Yrs 4 – 6:  9.50 – 10.20am
Yrs 1 – 3:  10.20 – 10.50am

All RI volunteers must hold a current Blue Card, and are inducted through the Queensland Government “Mandatory All-Staff Training program”.  Classroom teachers remain in the room at all times with volunteers and students.

Students will be enrolled into the RI group aligned with the information provided on the enrolment form at the time of enrolment.  Should you wish to change the RI group that your child attends, please submit this advice in writing to:  jbair51@eq.edu.au AND tdewo0@eq.edu.au  It is possible to change groups / cease attendance at any time.

Students who choose to not attend RI classes will be supervised by classroom teachers in classrooms, completing alternative work and activities.

Choir News

Year 1 and Year 2 Choirs
The Year 1 and Year 2 Choral groups have had an energetic start to Week 6! It's fantastic to see the love of singing growing in each of the children.

Here are some general reminders for families:

• Year 2 Choir rehearse at first break on Mondays.
• Year 1 Choir rehearse first break on Tuesdays.
• All families of enrolled children should have received an email at some stage from Mrs Huxley. If you have not received any correspondence, please email Mrs Huxley to be added to the email list. mehux0@eq.edu.au
• If any of the groups are going to do a public performance, families will be notified via email.
• Year 1 Choir children do not require a choir folder.
• Year 2 Choir children are encouraged to keep a folder containing their sheet music.

Here are some ways you can help:

• Verbally remind your child on the morning of their rehearsal that they have their rehearsal during first break at school.
• Visual reminders at home (eg: a weekly calendar) can also be usual.
• Pack food for first break that is nutritious and filling, but also quick and easy for the children to eat. Messy foods requiring cutlery (eg: rice) take a long time for the kids to eat, and make a big mess on the carpet.
• Encourage your child to sing for you at home or in the car! Get them to teach you what they are learning.

Mrs Marianne Huxley

News from HPE

Representative Swimming
Congratulations to the following students who represented the Northern Eagles district at the regional swimming trials last Wednesday:

• Sam H
• Mary W
• William E
• William T
• Thomas W
• Dafa N
• Charlotte R
• Atara W
• Ellen C
• Laura J
• Jorja L

A further congratulations goes out to Sam H, William E, William T, Ellen C and Jorja L for making the Met West Regional team who will be competing at the state carnival at the end of March.  A fantastic achievement! Good luck to all swimmers!

Ironside Cross-Country
The Ironside senior cross-country carnival will be taking place on Wednesday, 31 March, 2021.  Cross-country is part of the HPE program and participation is highly encouraged.  An email will be distributed later this evening to parents of year three, four, five and six students.  Please take the time to read over the provided information, talk to your child about which event they would like to participate in, and sign to give your child consent to walk to and from the park.  Thank you for supporting your child and the HPE program.

Jeremie Clarke-Okah
jclar577@eq.edu.au

District Trial Dates

Community Providers

Ironside P&C Fundraiser

Ironside Spring Fair

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop is open.  No need to make an appointment!

Uniform Shop Open Hours
Wednesdays 2:30pm-3:30pm and
Fridays 8:30am -9:30am

Uniform orders can be placed online via the Qkr! app.
Orders placed by 5:30pm on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday will be respectively delivered to the classrooms on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  

Easter Sausage Sizzle

Free Movie Night

Free Movie Night for Parents to celebrate International Women’s Day
Get your tickets to ‘Girls Can’t Surf’ + Choc Top or Popcorn
Eldorado Cinema Indooroopilly Monday March 8 @7pm
Limited Tickets – Call the Walter Taylor Ward Office on 3407 0005
Or www.jamesmackay.com/contact

Community Information