Braidwood Central School Primary Newsletter Term 1, 2019
B C S
BRIEFING 15 March 2019
2 / 3 B, “But Why”
“But Why”, is a show led by kids! Students ask the questions
and they find the answers. It's a big interesting world out
there. On “But Why”, they tackle topics large and small,
about nature, words, even the end of the world! This activity
is to promote students to listen to reading. We establish a
sense of urgency in students that it is important to listen to
others to help them become better readers and to learn
and understand new words. Reciprocal reading is
scaffolded talk about a text in a small group setting that
develops comprehension strategies. It may be completed
with the teacher, but often independent of the teacher.
Reciprocal reading has been shown to increase both
reading and listening comprehension and has
demonstrated that students transfer the learning into other
contexts. It teaches predicting, clarifying, questioning, and
summarising skills, with additional comprehension strategies
— giving opinions, making connections, and visualising.
Reciprocal reading encourages students to read, talk and
think their way through the text. Each student is assigned a
specific role within the group before reading, these are
indicated using small icons. When a student's coloured icon
appears on a page that student leads the discussion using
the prompts on that page.
Upcoming Events
Term 1
Week 8
19 March 2020 Student Information Night
for Kindergarten 2020 at 4.30 in the
school Library
Year 7 2020 enrolments 5.15pm in
the secondary Quad
Maths Pathways Parent Information
session 5.15pm Science Room 24
21 March K-12 Recognition Assembly
9:30am in school gymnasium
Harmony Day
Week 10
28 Mar Year 7 Immunisation
1 April Big Veggie Crunch Week
3 April Primary Cross Country
4 April Secondary Cross Country
Week 11
12 April Easter Hat Parade
Last Day of Term
Term 2
29 April Teachers and Staff return to School
30 April Students return to school
Please note that dates and events may
be subject to change.
Please see our website
braidwood-c.schools.nsw.gov.au or the
calendar on our SkoolBag App for more
details and the most up-to-date
information.
Braidwood Central School Briefing Term 1, Week 7 2019
Page 3
Aboriginal Studies
Emma Munnings
Braidwood Central School is now running
Aboriginal Studies as an elective subject in
Stage 5. This exciting and important subject
addition allows students to study and
appreciate both traditional and contemporary
Aboriginal culture. Students have the
opportunity to focus on a range of topics,
including ‘Aboriginal Identities’ which explores
the diversity of Aboriginal identity,
perspectives and culture. The course also
concentrates on Aboriginal cultural production.
This looks specifically at how film, television
and music respond to land mark
socio/political/legal events and issues such as
The Mabo Native Title ruling, and The Bringing
Them Home Report. This subject explores a
shift in the representation of Aboriginal people.
Students have shown great interest in, and
enthusiasm for the subject and have eagerly
shared their own stories about identify. It is a
great privilege to be teaching students about
the oldest and continuous living cultures in the
world.
Clean Up Australia Day
Students in class 4/5S, our SRC and school
Captains spent time collecting rubbish from our
school grounds and the public laneway besides
the Court House.
Thanks to Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional
Council for supporting us with equipment to
support the event!
What if my child has to be away from school?
If your child has to be absent from school, you must tell the school and provide a reason for your child’s absence. To explain an absence parents and carers may be required to:
send a note to the school, or contact the school via electronic means such as SMS text message, fax or email, or
telephone the school, or
visit the school.
A small number of absences may be accepted by the principal. For example, if your child:
has to go to a special religious ceremony
is required to attend a serious or urgent family situation (e.g. a funeral)
is too sick to go to school or has an infectious illness
Braidwood Central School Briefing Term 1, Week 7 2019
Page 3
Big Vegie Crunch
Did you know that currently only 5% of NSW
children are eating enough vegetables? In
order to work towards improving this
percentage, we need to increase children’s
knowledge, exposure and positive attitudes
towards vegetables.
Keep watching Skoolbag, Facebook and our
website for more information on big Vegie
Crunch week 10.
Math Pathways
This year sees our teachers and students in
middle school (Years 5-8) re-imagining
mathematics, with a new way of teaching and
learning, called Maths Pathway. This research-
driven program combines a range of teaching
methods and classroom practices with an
online learning environment to support
individualised learning for each student, giving
teachers the tools and the time to address each
student's individual learning needs.
Our students are developing their problem
solving, independent learning, and group work
skills, and developing a growth mindset
towards their mathematics learning. As
students complete their second round of
diagnostic testing, they are demonstrating up
to a 400% growth rate – meaning they’ve
achieved the equivalent of four months’ worth
of progress in just one month!
Business Studies Yr 12
Ruby Gurling
On Tuesday of week 5 the HSC Business
Studies class along with Miss Dimity Borra
went to Moruya to receive a tour of Southern
Phone. We were given a complete tour of the
business and were even able to have
conference calls with various members of the
board of directors. We will use what we have
learned from this business in a case study for
our HSC.
Mr Simon Wheatley
Mr Simon Wheatley
will be teaching
Geography, History
and English with
our stage 4 and 5
cohort. Mr Wheatley
currently resides on
the South Coast,
where he was
previously
employed at Carroll
College, Broulee. He is an avid sports fan and
also enjoys engaging in extracurricular
activities within the school community.