Educational Achievement

Reading

Why is it important to read with my child?

There are many, many benefits of reading to and with your children above and beyond learning how to read (though that is also a very important benefit!) Some additional benefits include:

Reading aloud helps build language skills. It exposes children to new words and concepts and helps to teach and understand about general knowledge and information that they may not have otherwise interacted with.
Books help children build empathy and learn how to handle challenging emotions and situations. Discuss and ask questions like, have you ever felt that way? What would you do in that situation? How to you think that character felt?
Reading together is a great time to connect with your children. It's amazing what kinds of conversations can occur from reading new books!
Reading with children can help build on concentration and memory, especially if you are reading a book over several nights, like a chapter book. Children have to remember what has happened already to continue to understand the story.
Boosts critical thinking skills. Comprehension and analytical skills are built upon the more we read.

Curriculum

This year, Goondiwindi State School has been transitioning to using the Australian Curriculum Version 9 as our curriculum. Classes have already implemented English and will start to implement Mathematics in 2025. Version 9 English Australian Curriculum has a strong focus on the Science of Reading, using decodable readers for learning how to read, and having a strong structured synthetic phonics focus. The great news for GSPS is that we have already been implementing these things in reading for many years now and these evidence based, best practices are embedded in our every day teaching and learning already.

Parent Teacher interviews are being held in week 8, Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th August. Parent teacher interviews are a great way to discuss your child's progress with their teachers. Bookings can be made from today by using the SOBS booking system here: https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70520 or by calling the school office.

Music

Instrumental Music

Instrumental music students participated in the Goondiwindi Apex Eisteddfod this past week. They performed in a variety of ensemble groups and represented Goondiwindi State School with pride. I am very proud of everyone's efforts and commitment to instrumental music. The results are as follows:

Large Ensemble (no vocals) Primary