Mapleton State School acknowledges the traditional custodians of the place we now call our school.
We pay our respects to the Elders past and present and are proud to be supporting and encouraging emerging Indigenous leaders every day.
Term 4 Week 4
From the Principal
Thank you to the entire Mapleton Community for your warm and sincere welcome. For those of you whom I have not yet had the pleasure my name is Aaron Willis and I have been appointed Acting Principal at Mapleton State School for the rest of the term. For the last year I have been working within the capability team in regional office supporting schools and school leaders around instructional leadership and high-quality teaching and learning practices. Substantively I am a Deputy Principal at Maroochydore State High School but have also worked in North Queensland, Brisbane and for Central Office as a Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher Assessor.
I am excited to join this exceptional community and am thrilled to embark on a journey towards an exciting and successful term with our dedicated students, parents, and staff. I want to express my admiration for the remarkable school that Mapleton State School is. The school's rich history of academic excellence, its diverse and vibrant student body, and its dedicated staff have already left an indelible impression on me. The warm and inclusive atmosphere that prevails within our school's walls is truly commendable.
Mr Butcher and the team have set the school up extremely well and I look forward to continuing that great work, including the characteristics of the Mapleton Way and a strong focus on every student reaching their potential through high quality teaching and learning experiences.
In the weeks ahead we will continue planning the school’s strategic direction including the 4-year School Strategic Plan and 2024 Annual Implementation Plan as we continue to put Equity and Excellence into action, ensuring all our students have the opportunity to achieve their personal best.
Please reach out and say hello at any time, I look forward to getting to know the staff, student, families and communities as the term progresses.
Kind regards,
Aaron Willis
Principal's Spotlight on Learning
I have had the pleasure of visiting many classrooms over the last two weeks, it is always great to see students engaged in meaningful learning.
I visited prep and spoke to Mylah, she was working on her maths and ‘making sense’ of numbers.
She could tell me how she could represent her number as words, tally or a picture and knew what number came before and after the number she had chosen. Well done Mylah!
I also had the pleasure of visiting 5/6 this week and spoke with Pippa, Cate, Evie and Tessa who were eager to show me their stop-go animation for media arts. ‘Death At The Volcano’ was extremely entertaining, with great use of drama, humour and tension. It was great to see the students so proud of their work and engaged in their learning. When I asked them what they might get for their assessment they readily picked up the guide to Marking Judgement and talked me through what they needed to do to get an A. Well done Pippa, Cate, Evie and Tessa and well done Ms Moore.
I look forward to visiting more classes throughout the term, talking to students about their learning and seeing the great teaching practice at Mapleton State School first hand.
School Operations
Year 6 Graduation – Thursday 30th November
Year 6 Graduation will be held on Thursday 30th of November. Looking forward to sending our fantastic year 6s out in style. Thanks to Ms Moore and the working party!
2024 Student Leadership
This term we will start the student leadership process for 2024, we intend to have this finalised before the end of the year so our students can hit the ground running in 2024. Good luck to all future potential leaders!
Year 3 – 6 swimming carnival – Wednesday 6th December
Reminder the swimming carnival is on Wednesday of week 10. It is a great way to finish up the year for our year 3-6 students and encourage participation from all students.
Parents and Citizens' (P&C) – Next meeting, Wednesday 1st November.
I had the pleasure of meeting with the P&C executive on Wednesday. It is always great to work with a group of such dedicated people giving their own time to support our young people.
The next P&C meeting is on Wednesday 1st of November in the Library from 3:30pm – 4:30pm, all welcome, look forward to seeing you there.
Curriculum Corner
Prep News
We had great fun spending time with our Yr 6 Buddies this week. The Preppies read a decodable reader to their buddy. The children enjoyed playing addition games together and building pictures with shapes. It was lovely to see them working collaboratively together. The Year 6’s are very encouraging and supportive. We are looking forward to more activity sessions together before the end of the year.
2/3 News
We are enjoying our English Poetry unit and wrote a descriptive adaptation of
Dorothea Mackellar’s ‘My Country’:
My Forest
By 2/3
I love an exotic forest,
A land of lush, green plants.
Of thickened, branchy trees,
Of bugs, birds, snakes and ants.
I love the wet, Autumn leaves,
I smell clean, fresh rain.
Her musical humming-birds,
The forest is not plain.
In Year 3 Science we are investigating liquids and solids and the addition or removal of heat. Our investigations lead us to explore the properties of sand and justify our response to the question, “Is sand a liquid or a solid?”
Year 3/4 News
This term, in English, students in 3/4 have been reading and writing different types of poems. They have also been examining the poetic devices used in poetry such as rhyming words, similes, personification, and alliteration. Here are some of the poems they have created.
Rainbows are
As red as a stop sign.
As blue as the gigantic sky high up with the clouds.
As yellow as a beautiful sunflower gazing in the sunlight.
As green as the bright beautiful green grass.
As orange as the huge fiery sun.
By Poppy
Green
Bumpy leaves swaying in the trees.
Wet grass shining in the sun.
Slithering tree snakes moving along the branches.
Sour lime making me pucker.
By Owen
Summer
I can see:
Big loud waves crashing against the cliff side
Small tiny people swimming in the big sea
I can hear:
Huge noisy rain bashing against the window
Booming loud thunder rubbing against your ears
I can feel:
Freezing cold wind shivering down my spine
By Leeland
Blue
Shimmering seas crashing on the rocks.
Sugary blueberries growing on the warm sun.
Bumpy blue coral swaying in the current.
Crystal skies glimmering in the daylight.
By Iris
Autumn
I can see:
Beautiful amber leaves falling from the old trees.
Young kind kids playing on a playground.
I can hear:
Loud orange leaf blowers blowing away the leaves.
Sharp, deafening mowers cutting down the long grass.
I can feel:
Tiny brown sticks breaking at my feet.
By Jandi
Ice cream is
As cold as an ice cold ice cream.
As colourful as a gigantic rainbow.
As yummy as a big gigantic cake.
As fun as a fantastic playground.
As messy as my terrible messy room.
By Hendrix
5/6 News
Dates to Remember
Surf Awareness - 9 November, 16 November, 23 November, 30 November and 7 December
Rememberance Day - Saturday 11 November @ 10:15am - Meet near Admin Office. Full school uniform.
Graduation - Thursday 30 November @ 5:00pm
Swimming Carnival - Wednesday 6 December
Transitioning to High School
We are fortunate to have our Chappy coming to spend time with the year 6 students on Tuesday afternoons. These afternoons allow students to have open conversations and express any concerns for their transitioning. Chappy is dicussing different strategies they can use in their new high school environment.
Science
Grade Six students have started their mould process for their assessment. Each student used swabs to get bacteria off their hands, some hands were washed with soap, some hands used hand sanitizer, some hands were washed and sanitized and some were not washed at all {Gross}. We then put the swab onto a petri dish. These petri dishes will not be opened but we will check regularly and see the mould growing. The information will be documented and be part of our Science Assessment.
Instrumental Music News
2024 Instrumental Music Recruitment
Year 3 & Year 4 students saw a Band Concert today!
If your child is showing interest in learning a musical instrument, please consider joining the Mapleton SS Instrumental Music program on a band instrument in 2024.
Please check your child’s bag for their ‘Expression of Interest’ form. Please complete & return this form to the office by Friday 3 November.
Should you have any queries please email our Instrumental Music Teacher – Leesa Dean ladea0@eq.edu.au
2024 Continuing Instrumental Music Students
Our 2023 Instrumental Music students have enjoyed an exciting year of workshops, performances, and attendance at the Hinterland Music Camp. As we are now nearing the end of the 2023 school year and have begun planning for 2024, we ask that you indicate your intentions for 2024 by completing their ‘Intent to Continue’ form. Please complete & return this form to the office by Friday 10 November.
Should you have any queries please email our Instrumental Music Teacher – Leesa Dean ladea0@eq.edu.au
The Instrumental Music program provides students with the opportunity to become musicians and experience the expressive qualities of music through learning to play a band instrument. I look forward to welcoming your child to a stimulating year of creating Instrumental Music in 2024.
Library News
Thank you to Evie and Tessa from year 5/6 who have taken on a new role as Library Monitors. Tessa and Evie help out by straightening, returning books to correct shelving and organising displays. They have done a wonderful job of setting up the Rememberance Day display. The library has also received some new books for our library collection.
Mapelton students seem to have a love of reading, it's great seeing how our students really enjoy borrowing books.
Homestay Families Needed for 2024!
Next year we have LOTS of international students arriving at Burnside.
We really need Homestay families, so if you have a spare room and an interest in new cultures, contact us today on international@burnsideshs.eq.edu.au or call 5459 7333.
Who is coming?
4 Japanese students, staying for Term 1
4 German students & 4 Brazilian students, staying for Terms 1 and 2
20 Korean students, staying for 2 weeks in February
FAQ
Do I need to have a student at Burnside?
No! Just access to a school bus route to Burnside SHS.
Do the students need their own room?
Yes! A private room is required – your spare room is great!
Do I need to speak their language?
No! The students are here to experience Aussie family and school life, however you can also learn all about their culture, food and lifestyle. A cultural experience without the airfare.
Do I receive financial assistance for hosting?
Yes! Get in touch today to find out more.
OSHC - Kidz Mob
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