Term 3 2021 Newsletter
- Message from Principal - Wayne Wilkinson
- ECDP - Look what Mel / Rochelle are up to:
- ECDP - Look what Mel / Linda are up to:
- ECDP - Look what Caron/Alison/Linda are up to:
- ECDP - Look what Katie/Julie/Julia are up to:
- ECDP - Look what Annie/Alison are up to:
- ECDP - Look what Sandra/Julie are up to:
- From the Acting Deputy - Christina Hamilton
- A and B Hub
- C and I Hub
- D and E Hub
- G Hub
- J Hub - Junior Secondary
- J Hub - Senior Secondary
- From our PE Teacher - Nicky Champeaux
- Some Info from our SLPs
- From the Education Program Officer - Kerrie Reid
Message from Principal - Wayne Wilkinson
Dear parents and carers
Welcome to the first edition of our Term 3 Schoolzine newsletter. While the formatting does not provide us with the same flexibility of previous editions, it does save us lots of time. We may make minor adjustments in the future to design but for now we hope it works for everyone.
Our end of term newsletter is just one of the ways we celebrate the wonderful achievements of students and hopefully recognise the great efforts and partnerships which exist between staff and parents. I hope this newsletter provides each of you with a broader understanding of the many wonderful things that happen in our school each term.
Remarkably we begin Term 4 in a few weeks (Tuesday 5th October). As always, this is a major planning term for Admin as we begin to process enrolments for 2022 and organise celebration events for our students graduating from ECDP, Year 6 and Year 12. Every year I provide all parents with an opportunity to share with me their thoughts and wishes for 2022. There are always many changes that occur from year to year and I appreciate the concerns that the end of each year brings for both parents and staff.
As principal I get to hear and experience all that is good, as well as those stories where things have not worked out as expected for parents and staff. Open and trusting conversations between staff and parents are critical to achieving effective and supportive school communities. I constantly encourage both staff and parents to build their understanding of the vastly different contexts that occur between home and school. Thank you to those parents who have shared their perspectives and experiences throughout this year and who have worked positively, and in some cases very creatively, to support the teaching and learning journey throughout our Covid-19 disruptions and distractions.
As you read this newsletter, please take the time to enjoy the stories from across our school and take a moment to smile at the many wonderful Term 3 moments.
I wish you all a happy and safe two week break from school routines – Wayne.
ECDP - Look what Mel / Rochelle are up to:
Monday Tuesday AM Group
What a joy it has been to welcome 5 new little boys to our morning group. Our mornings are filled with wonderful smiles, fun and energy! Over the past term the group has slowly grown and the children are learning the new routine. We are learning how to recognise new adults and children, as well as new environments and become more confident. We are practising how to share and take turns of our favourite toys such as balls, balloons, cars, bikes and ball runs, as well as how to communicate using visuals, key word signing and words. We are also working on other important skills that will be required for school such as sitting down to eat at a table, using the bathroom, and sitting at circle/group times. Our Physiotherapist Kerrie has also been down to support us to explore the obstacle course, thank you!
Rochelle and I have been very impressed by each little boy’s capacity to separate from their mum or dad, and also how they have managed to transition from outside to inside time so well in a short period of time. Inside we have been exploring sensory play using cornflakes, coco pops, oats, sand and goop. The boys have loved taking turns of balls runs and cars. Woody and Lightning McQueen, as well as Baby Shark feature heavily at circle time and a couple of the boys have shown us their dancing skills, which is great! We are looking forward to Term 4!
Monday Tuesday PM Group
The afternoon group of 7 children have been enjoying learning through a variety of themes this term including Transport and Construction. However, they have all shown a strong interest in our Fire Station role-play over the past two weeks. We have been reading PowerPoint books about Fire Engines and Fire Officers; engaging in role-play; dressing-up as Fire Officers, answering phone calls to save kittens stuck up trees or in buildings, and putting out fires.
We have been busy doing fine motor work to get ready for school including:
• Using our fingers to get stickers and place them onto different pictures
• Making Lightning McQueen cars
• Making Father’s Day and Special People cards
• Lacing cards, and
• Gluing puzzle pieces together
The children have also enjoyed engaging in a lot of sensory play such as using shaving cream; goop; water; sand; and playdough. Having their sensory needs met then sets the children up positively for a calmer inside learning time.
As always home corner continues to be a hit, with Winnie the Pooh having a tea party and the babies having a bath. Only 1 term to go until we graduate!
ECDP - Look what Mel / Linda are up to:
Wednesday Group
Linda and I would like to say a huge thank you and call out to Chappy Bill! The boys have grown to absolutely love drumming time. Over the year the girls have watched and listened, but finally decided to join in week 8 this term! The drumming session has helped to develop the children’s rhythm, bilateral movements (using two hands) and they have loved dancing to beat that Chappy Bill can make on his beautiful drums. You can see the smiles on the children’s faces as they groove and move!!
This term we have been busy exploring topics such as Construction; Fire Officers and also set up a Café. The café theme was VERY popular and included a Tea Party with cupcakes and warm chocolate drinks. The children ran the café, took orders on the phone, baked and served customers.
We have said goodbye to one of our friends and said hello to two more friends. Welcome to our new families!
We have celebrated Book Week and Father’s Day and just enjoyed having fun with our friends. Week 9 this term was our best week yet for some wonderful social play and engagement.
ECDP - Look what Caron/Alison/Linda are up to:
Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday AM
Our groups are loving the space theme this term. We have had lots of opportunities to paint our favourite planets and stars. We have enjoyed lots of sensory play experiences, including mixing colours into shaving cream to make space cream and using the kitchen beaters and spoons to mix and whisk. We have enjoyed playing with the space rocks, picking them up with tongs, weighing them and filling containers. The space table arranged with rockets, buggies, space stations and aliens has been a big hit and provided lots of opportunities for playing in the same area. Our favourite story so far has been ‘Whatever next’, where baby bear flies to the moon in a rocket and has a picnic with owl. Group time is a favourite activity, and everyone has a new favourite space song, that I am sure you have heard at home too.
Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday PM
These groups are continuing to work on school readiness skills using the space theme to do their cutting, drawing, painting and pre-writing. They are all very motivated and excited to learn about space and the planets. We have had lots of opportunities to practise cutting out planets, stars and rockets. We have painted a different planet each week, using collage and paint to decorate the Moon, Mercury, Mars and Earth. The groups are getting more independent with their work tasks and are beginning to organise their activities using sequence cards to cut, paste, draw then write their name. We have also enjoyed many opportunities to play together, creating play scenarios suggested by the group. We are continuing to learn to share and listen to ideas from our friends.
ECDP - Look what Katie/Julie/Julia are up to:
Monday/Tuesday AM and PM
These two groups have been enjoying participating in some dramatic play. For the first two weeks we turned our classroom into a hospital. The children enjoyed dressing up as doctors and treating their patients. The language focus was on body parts and feelings. We used ALS (Aided Language Stimulation) boards to support the play and communication. Giving needles was one of the children’s favourite procedures along with applying band aids. We painted doctors and ambulances and made our own hand x-rays too. We experimented with eye droppers and syringes in the sensory tray. This was a great way to meet the sensory needs of some of our children and work on their fine motor skills at the same time. On the floor we built a hospital out of Lego and used our wooden blocks to create a road for the ambulances and emergency vehicles. We used the pretend phones in home corner to call 000 and request help. It has been great to see the children apply their own knowledge of going to the doctors to their play. Hopefully this will help next time the children have to visit the doctors themselves.
Thursday/Friday AM and PM
This term we have explored two different play themes, being a hospital and a construction site. The children have really enjoyed both themes. The construction theme was a favourite for the children on Th/Fri. They enjoyed dressing up in the hard hats and high-vis gear. They pretended to fix things with their tools and to dig with the heavy machinery. We painted diggers and had sensory trays full of cocoa bombs for mud. We used the wooden blocks to build and the machinery to knock them down. We scrunched up paper for mud to move with the excavator and dump trucks. At group times the children were thrilled to watch Blippi perform an excavator song and the Paw Patrol songs where Rubble the Construction Pup saved the day. We used ALS (Aided Language Stimulation) boards to support their language development. Both groups have loved participating in the obstacle course and it has been wonderful to see how many of the children can now attempt each activity in the correct order. The afternoon group continued with their writing program and have been focusing on drawing circles. They have been working very hard on their transitions to and from the classroom and resisting the urge to run to the gate. We look forward to continuing the play themes together.
ECDP - Look what Annie/Alison are up to:
Thursday/Friday AM
Our new group has settled in well this term and have enjoyed many opportunities to explore their new learning environment. Meaningful connections with the staff have been developed and the children are happy to say goodbye to their parents at the gate and to interact with staff as play partners across the session. During outdoor play, the children have been exploring ways to move their bodies to strengthen gross motor skills. This has included trampoline games; digging, mixing and pouring during sandpit play; ball games and climbing/sliding opportunities on the climbing frames. During inside play, the children have enjoyed opportunities to further explore joint attention skills; social and imaginative play skills, development with dressing up/ cooking in home corner; music and movement games and following the routines of the program.
Thursday/Friday PM
Our book theme for the first half of this term has been ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’. Using this theme, the children have had many opportunities to develop and practise a variety of skills, for example, communication skills have been strengthened through listening to the story, recalling events from the story, answering questions about the story and developing vocabulary. They have also developed play skills and used props to act out themes inspired by the Tiger coming to Tea to extend their imaginative play, for example; pretending that toys are interacting with each other, and cooking/ feeding various toys during the play. These imaginative play experiences provided opportunities for staff to model how to engage in simple role plays, how to share toys and take turns, how to play with our peers and cooperate during brief social play interactions. Fine motor skills have been strengthened through a variety of activities relating to the story or the children’s interests.
Wednesday Group
Our Wednesday class has been busy this term, working on developing and refining our social play skills. Our mornings were filled with focused activities that included board games where we practised working together and strategies for how to cope when things don’t go as planned!! We have been enjoying a variety of fine motor activities where we worked on strengthening our fingers, hands, arms, shoulders and minds. The activities were usually inspired by our ‘Story Of The Week’. Each week, our stories had an emphasis on rhyming words and the children especially enjoyed Mr McGee and his problems with a biting flea! After morning tea, it was time for outdoor adventures where we got to use all of our big muscle groups. This time was also filled with opportunities to develop cooperative play skills. Once we’d had a big play, Chappy Bill joined us most weeks for a drumming circle and we always enjoyed our sessions with Mel the Physio. Just before lunch, it was free play time and the class got really creative using the resources inside! How quickly the day goes when you’re having fun!!
ECDP - Look what Sandra/Julie are up to:
Thursday/Friday AM Group
Our morning group has begun to show an interest in using painting tools including rollers and brushes to make marks on paper. This has been an exciting development seeing our children explore the colours and the marks they make. The children are also beginning to take a strong interest in exploring a range of construction/building activities that include posting, building, puzzles, threading and our old favourite – play doh.
Thursday/Friday PM Group
Being able to play with friends, to negotiate a turn and to share toys and ideas are all skills that our afternoon kindergarten has been developing. We have been using creative/pretend play activities to develop our social skills. Creating play ideas and developing characters in play has been so much fun. We have explored a range of different dramatic play ideas including being a pirate, a fireman, a construction worker, and a chef in a restaurant. From this dramatic play we then created our craft activities. We are learning to follow the instructions, to use scissors, paint, glue, sticky tape etc to create amazing things such as an ice-cream, a fire truck out of a box, a fireman from a drinking cup and a digger. The children have been focused and engaged during this creative time.
From the Acting Deputy - Christina Hamilton
We love learning at MOSS!
Our staff actively engage in many professional learning opportunities throughout the year. They meet, collaborate and innovate ways to develop better outcomes for our students and school. This year, we have been working hard to develop school wide approaches across 6 focus areas: Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL), Communication, Australian Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Personalised Learning Goals (PLG), Health, Safety and Wellbeing (HSW). Each of these committees meet twice a term to prioritise, plan and respond to student learning needs, new initiatives and departmental requirements.
We also have a number of interest groups that staff volunteer their time towards. Staff bring incredible passion, knowledge and dedication to these groups that directly benefit our students and school community. Some of these groups include Sustainability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reconciliation, Intensive Interaction, STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics), Curriculum Celebrations, Social and Wellbeing and Library Support groups.
The committees and groups are represented by our teachers, teacher aides, therapists, EPO and leadership team. The breadth and depth of skill and experience creates a love for learning in our school.
MOSS Focus Areas
A and B Hub
This term has been very busy and a lot of fun for the students in the AB Hub. We have had a few celebration days including the Olympics, a Fire Truck visit, Camp at School, Book Week, Father’s Day and the MOSS Sports Carnival. We have also had many wonderful Hub moments with classes joining together or mixing up for different parts of the week. Students have enjoyed shared morning circle time, gross motor programs, playtimes and the return of Hub Assemblies. We thank all the students and parents for their flexibility and resilience in a mixed-up term with a lockdown and (much upsetting) cancellation of camp and excursions.
This term in A-block we have been very creative! With events like Book Week, Father’s Day and our weekly letter artwork, we have increased our gross and fine motor skills with a range of painting, sticking and drawing experiences. We are enjoying our weekly gross motor group with the physiotherapist, Mel, and our confidence to try new activities is growing. We have worked so hard on using our voices to request, comment and communicate in many ways, with the support of ALD boards, Proloquo2Go, PODD, symbols, hand gestures and voices too. Everybody has been finding what works for them and our vocabularies are expanding week by week!
This term in B-Block, students have been working hard on their academic, social and communication skills. Students have enjoyed exploring rhyming texts and designing puppets to use for story retells. In maths, students have been exploring money, with this understanding being practised and applied in role play shops and cafes. In health (and PBL), students have been exploring safety; looking at road safety, fire safety, water safety, stranger danger and how to ask for help. We had a wonderful visit from the local fire station, and the students loved checking out the fire truck, the uniforms and even having a turn at the hose. Students have been working hard on building their social communication skills, with Cristy (OT) visiting weekly to explicitly teach the skills needed to play together by initiating play and joining a group already playing. It has been wonderful to see new friendships formed and new games explored.
The Grade 6 students across the Hub have been working towards their Rotary Junior Community Awards. They have been responsible for putting up and taking down the flags, volunteering in the library, participating in reading buddies with D-Block students and taking ownership over recycling.
We are looking forward to building our skills even more in Term 4 and look forward to sharing our progress and successes.
C and I Hub
C2 had a fantastic time exploring rhyme and poetry while engaging with Dr Seuss and Shel Silverstein texts. Students had the opportunity to engage with multimodal texts and use their personal communication device to comment, review and answer questions within a shared reading environment. Students enjoyed going to the library to borrow books and engaging with their amazing resources. We look forward to further exploring poetry and rhyme in Term 4.
C and I block have been working on keeping themselves safe in a range of activities. These included exploring safety signs during routine gross motor activities. They have also been exposed to poetry during literacy, music and drama learning experiences. The Junior Secondary Hub immersed themselves in another world experience when they dressed as Alice Wonderland for Book Week. During play periods, drama and combined class lessons staff collaborated with our school OT and SLPs to support students as they begin to explore the fundamentals of communication. Throughout the semester students worked hard to learn the cross country events and continued to look after their school environment when they carried out composting, recycling and Lids 4 Kids programs.
C1 boys can’t get enough of the guitar
C2 boys creating in the kitchen
I2 were mad about Alice in Wonderland
Focussed Pursuits
D and E Hub
What a busy start to Term 3! The term began with Olympic activities such as ball games, relay races, soccer and themed dress-ups. The students enjoyed the opportunity to interact and play with one another across the classes. It was wonderful to see the team spirit and smiles on student faces. We then unfortunately experienced another lockdown. We thank you for your continued support and response to learning from home during lockdown this term and we are very glad to have everyone back in the classroom once again. We recently enjoyed Book Week celebrations focusing on the text, “We Love You Magoo” where the students participated in sensory and literacy activities whilst yet again in costume. It was a day filled with excitement and fun for everyone involved. We look forward to continuing our work on rhyming texts, money and drama during Term 4. We will be closing this term with a sports day and a hub shop activity with MOSS senior students. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holidays.
D1 Gallery
D2 Gallery
E1 Gallery
E2 Gallery
D and E Hub Group Gallery
G Hub
In G Hub this semester we have been exploring money, shopping and transactions. As well as beginning to learn to recognise Australian currency, we played with toy shops and served each other the items or services we wanted to buy. This allowed for many opportunities to practise communication and social skills. On Book-Week Day we also had a special movie experience, where the students “bought” their tickets and popcorn or ice-blocks! Lots of fun and a lovely way to begin to learn about money.
J Hub - Junior Secondary
Learning About Poetry
What a busy term we have had! During literacy sessions, we have been learning about poetry. We explored making icecream, pizza and popcorn and wrote sensory poems about our experiences. Students used their individual communication methods to talk about how things felt, looked, tasted and smelt. We also explored poems about ‘Winter’, ‘Rainbows’, ‘The Ning Nang Nong’ and ‘Dogs’ using our senses and talking about rhyming words.
Oppy Shoppy Opening
The students haved worked hard preparing for the MOSS Oppy Shoppy opening. This was a huge success with everyone enjoying their jobs. Our greeters used eye gaze, PODD, gestures, their voices and huge smiles to welcome parents. Other students helped restock shelves, chatted to customers, added up sales amounts, gave change and packed visitors shopping.
Music Sessions
Stacey has joined our staff in J Hub. All of our students enjoy her music sessions each week, playing the tuned bells, tuned horns, ukelelles and keyboards. The pride and joy on their faces as they explore rhythms and melodies is contagious. We also played for visitors to the Op Shop.
Individual Learning Program - CSHS
One student in Junior Secondary has been working towards attending an English class at Centenary High School. He has been working towards this goal for a long time and has started visiting weekly to get used to the new environment, meet the teachers and prepare for the Poetry Unit next term.
Intensive Interaction
J Hub - Senior Secondary
Fire Service Visit
To support J4 students' Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement, (QCIA) learning goals they listened to a safety talk and participated in a Q& A session with the visiting firefighters. The students were given the opportunity to use the firehose, which they all really enjoyed.
Music Program
As part of their Leisure and Recreation program, students in J4 have are really enjoying the opportunity to participate in a music program each week. Some students have been interacting and experimenting with the bells and some student have been following colour code visuals to play along with some well-known tunes using bells and keyboards.
Communication and Technology
To support students to work on individual QCIA Communication and Technology goals J4 has participated in a simulated shopping program. Some students were given the opportunity to use visuals to choose food from a tactile menu. Some students were given the opportunity to practise money handling skills, workplace communications and customer service skills.
From our PE Teacher - Nicky Champeaux
In the best interest of our students, it works better to have smaller groups (Hubs, or sometimes individual classes) for sports activities and to run them throughout the week allowing time for all students to participate. Students practise the activities and become familiar with locations during their HPE sessions. By the time Sports Week arrives they know what to expect and are therefore able to participate to the best of their ability. Students earn points for their teams, not only for effort and skill but also for independence, initiation of an activity, waiting, turn taking, having a go which might take them out side of their comfort zone and team spirit (which includes dressing up, bringing a mascot or even a cheer squad from home). The week ends with a whole school get together for the presentation of the trophy to the winning team captain. This year, for the first time, we were able to gather under our new J block building for this event. Fully fenced and with space for students to move away if required, yet still be included, this area was perfect. We have a wonderful partnership with Centenary High school and in particular with their Performance Plus group, lead by their teacher Mr. Mitchell Holmes. They delighted and entertained our students with lots of music, song and dance.
Our finale morning started with some Middle Year students, accompanied by one Early year student, reciting our Acknowledgment of Country. Performance Plus sang the National Anthem while we stood and watched a video of our MOSS students raising the flags.
Sebastian (captain of the YELLOW team) accompanied by his vice-captain Jasmine made his speech to thank everyone for coming. Milly, (captain of the GREEN team) accompanied by her vice-captain Hadrian, used a pre-recorded device to play her speech of thanks.
All students followed the seniors for the March Past which was a lovely sea of yellow and green. Well done to parents and teachers for helping our students to dress up.
Our Junior Secondary students had a go at making up new war cries. They did such a good job that we decided to use them this year. The team captains (big thanks to Fraser who helped Milly by reading out the GREEN team war cry) lead the school to call out their team war cries.
All MOSS students had an opportunity to participate in relay races while Performance Plus continued with their entertainment and then the final scores were added up. Scores were very close but the YELLOWS were just ahead. Sebastian was a very proud captain as he received the trophy for 2021 and he made a wonderful impromptu speech of thanks.
After that, the music cranked up and those who wanted to got into some serious dancing with Performance Plus. Our students just love music and movement...the atmosphere was again one of fun and enjoyment.
Some Info from our SLPs
Simple AAC
Recently we introduced the SIMPLE AAC Framework, and explored S for Show. This time we’ll delve into I for Interesting. Make modelling and practise using AAC, fun. Your child (and you!) will find ‘chatting’ during activities that the child enjoys more fun and engaging, and you’ll both learn a whole lot more. Model on their AAC system during their favourite activities and in moments where you really love engaging with each other.
So, what does your child like to play with or do?
- if they love playing with cars – there is loads of language you can model while they play (go, stop, fast, slow, crash, colours, same, different, old, new, clean, dirty)
- If you want to model colours – you could do face painting or ‘makeup’
- Or just let them explore and respond to them. Navigate to a particular page of vocabulary you want to introduce, and then just let them explore by selecting words. Then respond to show what those words mean. My favourite page to explore has to be a page of actions. Try this with a teddy or a doll, and respond to whatever actions the child chooses. Dance! Run! Sleep! Wave! This simple cause and effect activity can be very motivating, and allows for no-fail exploration, whilst they get to see the meaning of the words they select.
Next time we’ll explore M for Months. From your Speech-Language Pathologists – Vickie and Emma.
From the Education Program Officer - Kerrie Reid
Mount Ommaney Fire Station Visit
In Term 3 we welcomed a team from the Mount Ommaney Fire Station who came to speak with our students about fire safety. Year 6 students participating in the Junior Rotary Community Award and our senior students, as part of their QCIA Community and Me unit were given the opportunity to ask questions, have a tour of the fire truck and have a go on the fire hose. Students from the ECDP also got to join in the fun with one little fire man ready to show the professionals how it’s done!!
Centenary State High School (CSHS) Collaboration
CSHS continues to be a valued supporter and partner of MOSS. This term, we accepted a very generous donation of five small wooden picnic tables to be used by our Eearly Years and ECDP students. These tables will be a lovely addition to our outdoor areas, providing not only an extra seating option but as an opportunity for outdoor learning. Special thanks to Mr Tobin and the team of students who put these tables together. The students love them!!
Landcare/Woolworths Grant
Our Woolworths/Landcare grant project continued this term with a number of animal and bird nesting boxes being made ready for installation across the campus. The boxes were made by students at Centenary State High School as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Bridge Award with this project counting towards their Community Service. Not only will we be installing up to 18 boxes for possums, microbats and birds, we are hoping to install a small number of cameras to document the inhabitants.
Work Experience Program
This term we hosted three Year 10 work experience students who are interested in careers as teachers and teacher aides. Students helped out across the campus in classrooms supporting MOSS students with literacy, numeracy, art and music. We hope your week with us was a rewarding and valuable experience and it was a pleasure to host you all.
Brisbane Centenary Rotary Club
We were very excited to be able to help our long-time supporters and friends of MOSS with a donation of second hand uniforms to go to disadvantaged school communities in Timor-Leste. The uniforms are being packed ready for transport where they will be collected by a Canossan Sister in Lospalos who will be distributing them to girls who are boarding at a school there. We join other local schools in supporting this great initiative, including Middle Park State School.
MOSS Oppy Shoppy
This term we were very excited to be able to open our newly named MOSS Oppy Shoppy to our families. The students in J3 were very busy sorting, washing and hanging clothes in preparation for the big event. But it was all hands on deck as students from across the J block hub welcomed and escorted visitors, kept the tables and tubs tidy and helped with clean up at the end of the opening. Some of students even provided the musical entertainment!! Well done everyone 😊
Wonder Rewards
A big shout out to everyone who collected their bread tags and bread bags for the Wonder Rewards Initiative. We received 500 reward points that we were able to put towards new sporting equipment.