NEWSLETTER

From the Principal…… February

2010
2009 Seniorsto 2010 at BSDE. By the time you receive this we will be into
Welcome
at least the third week of the term and I hope the students are settling
into a focus on their work and routines are becoming established. To
start our first newsletter I have some great news to report back on
from 2009.
We are very proud of the efforts of our exiting seniors last year
with improved results across the board. Along with the
support of our staff and some new processes in place we

2009 Seniors
achieved 90% OP 1‐15, an outstanding result. We also had a
30% increase in students completing a VET Certificate 1, 11 or
111 in the last term of 2009.

Congratulations to Clarissa Womack and Roxanne Efimov who

Roxanne Efimov
both received OP 1s placing them in the top students in the
state. Well done! We have also just heard that Clarissa has Clarissa Womack
received a University of Queensland Vice Chancellor Academic
Scholarship over 1400 applicants from across the state.
Congratulations Clarissa.

Courtney Oxenford
Courtney Oxenford has been recognised for her work efforts in the area of
cultural contribution to her local community. Courtney won the highly
contested Cultural Award at the Somerset Regional Council Australia Day
Awards last week. Congratulations Courtney.

During the last week of school many students participated in our BSDE
Swim Carnival. The carnival was held at Greenslopes State School on a
very warm day. A big thank you to all the staff involved. It was a great
day.
BSDE Swim Carnival 2009

Our staff are working hard to implement some new initiatives to start the
year. All are focused at improving student outcomes and service delivery
to our families. Although most are going ahead smoothly some have
provided some teething problems for us to deal with. I thank our families
for contacting us as issues arise. The following sub‐school sections of our
newsletter will outline many of the initiatives.

Best wishes in 2010.

Neil McDonald

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 i – School News

Welcome back to another exciting year at BSDE. I have

recently returned from maternity leave after nearly all of
2009 off. Although it was lovely being at home with my
son Declan, it was a great feeling to be able to walk back
into the school and work with such a vibrant and keen
team.

Part of my role as Head of School e­Learning is to manage the

curriculum development hub within the school. The team are
producing some great units of work for the students using many
different i­School platforms. Your students will be working with their
teacher via web conferencing, blackboard and other web tools.

In 2010 we have three priorities for the staff, parents and BSDE
students:

· Professional Development
· Curriculum Development
· Engagement through e ­Learning

My team and I will be offering professional development for parents

at the Orientation days coming up this term and also during our
extension service events. Please look out for these sessions and
come along and learn some new skills. Some of our teachers are
involved in a national AADES (Australasian Association of Distance
Education Schools) Virtual Worlds trial. During this trial they will
learn to use a virtual world environment and how this could be used
with their students to improve engagement. We look forward to
learning from these keen teachers.

Over the past year the curriculum hub was managed by Eileen
Furlonger, I would like to thank Eileen and the team for doing a
fantastic job throughout 2009. Well done guys!

Have a great term

Stacie Hansel

Head of School, e­Learning

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 Junior School News

Welcome to the Junior School at Brisbane School of Distance

Education.

The Junior School is comprised of students from Prep to Year 5

and at the time of writing has 25 Prep to Year 5 classes with 32
teachers some of whom work part­time. We have a Head of
Junior School and two Heads of Department within the sub
school. Susan Inglis is our Head of Department P­5 and Eileen
Furlonger is our part­time Head of Department
e­Learning who covers P­5 and also year 6 and 7.

Our sub­school offers Education Qld Prep to Year 5 curriculum as well as

special intervention programs in basic literacy and numeracy to match
the developmental needs of all students.

Our key priority for 2010 is to have our students achieve the highest
possible literacy and numeracy outcomes they can, by providing support
via a variety of modes of learning. Our teachers from Prep through to
Year 5 offer all students three scheduled lessons per week using
telephone and web conferencing software and we encourage as many
students as possible to participate in these lessons.

Strong literacy and numeracy results were achieved in 2009 National

testing and we shall strive in 2010 to have our students well prepared for
Years 3 and 5 NAPLAN assessments in May and QCAT assessments for
year 4 in Term 3 this year.

In order to assist new families to BSDE and to help students settle in to

their new classes, we are running a three day orientation program for
parents and Prep to Year 5 students from Monday 22 February to
Wednesday 24 February which will provide information for home tutors
as well as providing an opportunity for students to work with their
teachers in year level groups. We encourage as many families as
possible to attend this program in Brisbane. Details will be provided
shortly on our school website and will be circulated by class teachers.
We have scheduled Mini­school programs during the year in Brisbane
and also at major regional centres which also provide opportunities for
our students to meet together with their teachers.

We are very happy to have you as part of our learning community and on
behalf of the Junior school team, I wish to extend a warm welcome to
everyone joining the Junior school in 2010.

Mike Day
A/Head of Junior School

Middle School News

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 Middle School News

As Head of School I would like to extend to you a

welcome to the Middle School for 2010. The middle
years span the year levels 6 to 9. These year levels
involve two distinct stages for learners. The first stage
involves the transition from the foundation years. In this
stage students consolidate the foundations of literacy
and numeracy they bring with them from the foundation
years. Also it is a time of expanding curiosity and
exploration of a broader and deeper range of learning
experiences. The second stage is characterised by the physical,
social, emotional and intellectual development of early
adolescence. At this stage the focus is on increasing literacy and
numeracy skills and knowledge to prepare students for
participation in adult life and the senior phase of learning.

The priorities for the Middle school are:

¨ Focusing on literacy and numeracy outcomes

across all year levels
¨ Preparing students for national testing and QCAT
assessment
¨ Reviewing Science in Years 6 and 7
¨ Implementing the Year 6/7 LOTE initiative
¨ Progressing the e­learning agenda
¨ Improving student engagement and participation

My hope is that you find your association with the

Middle School rewarding and enjoyable. I look forward
to working with you.

Warren Parkinson
Head of Middle School

Over the September holidays, BSDE McKay attended a four day camp with the Sony Foundation
Children’s Holiday Camps. The camps are run all over the state in various private and state high
schools in the September holidays. They are normally three nights, four days and are intended to be
a respite for carers and a fun, enriching experience for children with developmental delays and
disabilities between 5‐12yrs.

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 Senior School News

On behalf of all teachers and administrative staff I

would like to welcome all Senior School students and
their parents to 2010. The Senior School motto is
“Success through diverse pathways”, and my role is to
ensure that students are successful.

At BSDE, to be successful a student needs to be well

organised and working steadily in all courses, and
completing assessment in a timely fashion. If a student falls
behind, it can be very difficult to catch up. For this reason it is
important to be aware of the following:­

· Our new attendance policy requires students to be in contact with

each of their teachers every week. We will text, email or send
phone messages to parents to advise them when students have
not made weekly contact with their teachers.
· Students are this year required to submit drafts of assignments
as per the work rate calendar to provide teachers with sufficient
time to provide feedback prior to the submission of assignments.
· Students must also submit exams and assignments by their due
dates.
· Where students will have difficulty meeting deadlines due to
changes in circumstances, they need to apply formally for an
extension of the deadline. They need to be able to demonstrate
that they have been engaged in preparation for the assessment
task. If a student applies for an extension but has not submitted
regular work or a draft on an assignment, an extension may not be
granted.

I hope that our focus on attendance, engagement and assessment

will mean that student outcomes are the best that they could
possibly be, and that our students will each achieve success as
they follow their personal pathway.

John Bright – Head of Senior School

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 Library and
Resource
Centre

NEWS
Staff
Kaye Bowden, the Head of Department­ Library Resource Centre is leaving BSDE. Kaye is
taking long service leave leading to her retirement and her last day at BSDE will be Friday,
February 26.
Kaye started at BSDE in 1996. Her hard work and commitment as Head of Department has led to
the Library Resource Centre providing a high level of service to the BSDE community that has been
highly valued by the many students, parents and staff she has helped in her 14 years at BSDE. Kaye
will be sorely missed. We wish her well in her retirement.

Kaye’s position as Head of Department is not being replaced. Teacher Librarians, Julie Sharpe, Chris
Timms and Pat Lyons will assume Kaye’s duties.

We welcome Lauren Hemphill who has joined us as a Library Aide from Centenary State High School
and congratulate Karen Cave who has been appointed BSDE Copyright officer.

Students
Once again our regular leisure readers and library users were very well represented amongst the
BSDE high achievers. Congratulations Clarissa and Roxanne on your OP1 results.

Borrowing

Leisure and Extension Reading

All BSDE students should have received their Leisure and Extension reading form by now. If you’d
like to receive books regularly fill out the Leisure and Extension Reading form and return it to the
library.
Secondary students receive it in their introductory pack and primary teachers send it to the students
in their class. If you haven’t received yours contact the library and we will send you one.

Regular Borrowing
You may borrow by telephone, email, mail or by visiting our library in person and self selecting
between 8am and 3pm on school days.

Online borrowing
You may reserve books and other library resources via our online catalogue at
http://bsde.cmeweb.libcode.com.au/ Links are available on the school website. Passwords have
been sent to all students (in the Information Policies and Procedures Handbook P‐12) and are
available from the LRC BlackBoard classroom or by contacting the library.

Overdue Loans
Overdue notices have now been sent out. If you’ve received one please have a good look for the
resources.
Don’t forget to check your library resources for the due date. Contact the library if you need an
extension for resources borrowed. Tel: 32148371 or 32148372

Julie Sharpe Chris Timms, Pat Lyons.

3214 8377 3214 8381 3214 8376
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 Brisbane School of Distance Education SMS
At BSDE we aim to ensure the best possible
outcomes for our students. One important factor in achieving success is
regular contact with your teacher. Students who do not maintain regular
contact can quickly fall behind and commonly find “catching up” extremely

Messaging and
difficult. The BSDE attendance policy has been revised, and all students are

Attendance
expected to be in contact with their teachers on a weekly basis. Where
students have a legitimate reason to not be making contact, parents need to
contact the relevant Head of School to advise of the circumstances. To
improve our procedures, we will be informing parents/caregivers about any
unexplained inactivity of their child.
From 8/2/2010, when our records show that a student has not made contact
in the previous week, an SMS text message will be automatically sent to the
mobile phones of parents. The message will read as follows:

No contact from Caitlin Smith with BSDE in past wk. Pls reply SMS or ph
07 ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ student name & action planned to catch up coursework.

The message will arrive on the phone displaying the number,

“0427016460“. Parents should store this number in their mobile phone
under “Brisbane School of Distance Education” so that when the
message arrives, the parent is aware the message has come from the
school.
Parents can then reply by pressing the reply option on their mobile phone
when they receive a message from the school and add their son or
daughter’s name, year, date of absence and the reason they have not made
contact with the school for the previous week.
e.g. Steven Scott, Year 11 was sick yesterday (Tuesday 15th November)
Text version = “Steven S yr11 sick tues 15 nov”
or by phoning the school office or sending a note explaining the lack of
contact.

There will also be reminders about ­

t significant events
t late lodgement of assignment reminders
t changes to course information
t plus other uses we will discover once we start using the system!

Updating Parent Mobile Phone Numbers

As part of the process of implementing this exciting new system, the school
is seeking your assistance. We already have an extensive list of parents’
mobile numbers; however we would like to make sure our records are fully
up­to­date.
Please ensure when re­enrolling that you provide the school with an active
mobile phone number, an active e­mail address or landline number.
Thank you for your assistance and co­operation. We look forward to making
this exciting transition, and to improving our communication with you.

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 YEAR 12 QCS
The Queensland Core Skills (QCS) exams are on this year in Term 3 over 2 days (31 August
and 1 September). All OP eligible students (Students who are doing 5 or more authority
registered subjects) are to sit the QCS exams as the results go towards the calculation of their
OP score at the end of the year. Those students who are not OP eligible are advised to also sit
the QCS as it can help with their rank score for Tertiary entrance. Achieving a C or better in the
QCS satisfies numeracy and literacy requirements for the Queensland Certificate of Education.

What we need to know is if you are going to sit the QCS exam.
Please send an email to vadam2@eq.edu.au with the title QCS and then in the body of the
email state your full name and details and confirmation that you will be sitting the QCS.

Vanessa Adamson will be emailing out information relating to the QCS soon and a blackboard
course will be available with extra information. If you have any queries relating to the QCS
please call Vanessa on Ph: 32148401.

Queensland School Sports

Trials
Brisbane S.D.E. is affiliated to Queensland School Sport so that students of this
school can be nominated by the school for trials in sports offered by Queensland
School Sports.
Visit www.schoolsport.qld.edu.au for information about ages, the sports and
dates of Regional trials.
Secondary School Trials are held at District, Regional and State level.
Some Secondary sports have Under 15 teams as well as Open teams.
Primary trials usually start at District Level but sometimes in a cluster of “Small
Schools” or several Primary Schools.
Primary trials for most sports are usually restricted to Year 6 and Year 7
students. Athletics and Swimming are restricted to 10year olds, 11year olds and
12year olds.
The standard of competition in District Trials is usually high and a student who
enters should be of a high standard of skill and fitness. Further information is
available on the BSDE web site www.brisbanesde.eq.edu.au

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 Professor Piffington
(Gary Sandstrom)

BSDE Summer School – January 2010

Glen Watt & Jim Hancock

The Queensland Government’s Summer Schools forms part of the government’s

commitment to the new Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan.
BSDE was asked to provide a unique learning program to Rural and Remote students
across Queensland. These students were identified by their schools and parents were
invited to enrol their children. We conducted our program during the summer vacation from
11­15 January 2010. 47 students from 40 schools were involved.
Because of the special nature of the Summer School, all the curriculum materials for the
project were purpose written and developed by staff from our school. Gary Sandstrom, HOD
6­9 English, wrote the literacy materials and Glen Watt, HOD 6­9 Maths, wrote the
numeracy materials. Two of our publications, Louie the Leech and Spineless Critters, were
distributed to all students who were involved in face to face Summer Schools across the
state.
The package also included short films, which introduced each literacy and numeracy
session. Our very own Professor Piffington described his love of mini­beasts and the
technical language that students could use, while Jim Hancock and Glen Watt demonstrated
the finer points of 2D and 3D shapes in various guises.
A formal survey was conducted and feedback from parents and students was
overwhelmingly positive. Well over 90% of students and parents believed that the program
was a success for them. The average daily attendance was 96%. This is an extraordinary
figure for a school program conducted during the holidays. Here are some of the comments
written by students and parents:
Students:
The DVDs were great because the men were funny as they were helping us learn. They
made learning more fun!
Parents:
I believe the Summer School program was a beneficial initiative for my child and he learnt a
great deal throughout the week. The Brisbane School of Distance Education was very
thorough with their program and should be commended for giving rural communities a
brighter academic future.
K… was really excited about doing Summer School even though it was school holidays. The
tasks were excellent, DVDs enjoyable and hands­on activities very worthwhile. We both
really enjoyed the experience. Thank you!
Congratulations on a great program. It even helped us bond a bit over the holidays.
N… enjoyed the topics and really enjoyed the hands on program and has since said he can’t
wait for school to go back, he is normally not too keen.
The connection between my son and his Dad was great. Bring on autumn school.

This has been a rewarding project for the school and followed on from the excellent Summer
School we conducted in September 2009. Acknowledgement and thanks go to all those
involved, including the project manager, Paul Leis, team members Gary Sandstrom, Glen
Watt, Kim Nicholson (desk top publishing), Karen Wallis(graphic artist), Jim Hancock and
Rina Farlow(graphics), the members of our Despatch team who worked under demanding
time frames, Cath O’Connor, the staff coordinator during the week of the Summer School,
and the eight teachers who worked during their summer vacation.
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BSDE SWIM SCHOOLS NOTICE
TERM 1, 2010

Dear Parents and Students,

Swim Schools are a part of our school’s Health and Physical Education
program. Enrolled students of BSDE from Years P ­ 12 are welcome to
attend.

In our Swim Schools students are taught the skills of swimming and
survival appropriate to the Royal Life Saving Award they are capable
of working on.

The dates and times for the BSDE Swim Schools in Term 1, 2010
are listed below.
If you are interested in your child attending one of our swim schools
please refer to the BSDE Website for full details of each Swim
School, RSVP & Medical forms.

Enquiries & Registrations are to be directed to the Teacher contact

listed in the table.
Swim School Dates Places Teacher Contacts

Brisbane Tues. February 16 Yeronga Park Swimming Yolande Barnett – 3214 8202/
Complex, Yeronga ybarn1@eq.edu.au
Darling Downs March 1 – 5 Toowoomba, Warwick, Cecily Rogers – 3214 8235/
& South West Goondiwindi. crog20@eq.edu.au
Wide Bay & March 1 – 5 Caboolture, Kingaroy, Ian McIntyre – 3214 8440/
Sun. Coast Bundaberg, Gympie imcin1@eq.edu.au

STUDENT
DATES Friday 19 November 19 2010 ­
Thursday, 25 November 2010
9.00 am to 3.00 pm
Saturday, 20 November
10.00 am to 1.00 pm

EXHIBITION OFFICIAL
OPENING
Friday, 19 November 2010,
10.30 am
Comprehensive details
available the Events WHERE BSDE – Conference Room 1
405 Montague Road
Calendar on the website WEST END QLD 4101
www.brisbanesde.eq.edu.au

SUBMISSION OF WORK ­ Post ONLY

­ One work, no larger than A3,
10
by Friday, 5 September 2010.
 News from your Parent Network
BSDE P&C - Up close, from a distance

A Message from your P&C

The BSDE Parents and Citizens Association would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our
families for 2010. We are very pleased you have chosen our school for your child’s education and
we wish you all the best for the coming year.

The P&C works closely with the school to ensure that the needs of our families are met. Thank you
to all the parents who have sent in their membership forms for both the P&C and the Parent Contact
Register for this year. Members of the P&C receive an emailed newsletter every month informing
them of all the latest happenings in our school community. They also receive information that will be
discussed at parent forums, and surveys that help us to present the parents’ perspectives. If you’d
like to have input onto the decisions affecting your child’s education, I strongly suggest you join our
parent network.

The Parent Contact Register is designed to enable families to get in touch with other BSDE families
so that students and home tutors can establish relationships with others in our community. Distance
education can be a lonely experience and we would like to support our families by creating stronger
partnerships and providing peer support. If you would like to join the P&C or put your name on the
Parent Contact Register, a membership form is available on the school website. Go to ‘Parents’ on
the menu on the left and then ‘Membership’, to download the form.

I would like to sincerely thank all our families who have made a donation to the Family Contribution
Scheme. Fundraising from a distance is very challenging and your generous contributions will
enable us to continue to support our families.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the P&C if we can assist you in any way. Distance education can be
quite daunting at times but you don’t have to struggle on alone. We’re here to help and we’d love to
hear from you. Contacts for executive members are all on the P&C Pages of the school website.

The role of the P&C at Brisbane School of Distance Education

Having a strong parent network is extremely important for the effective running of our school. Our
school is unique so our Parents and Citizens Association needs to be unique also. We don’t have
many of the challenges that the P&Cs at mainstream schools have to deal with such as tuckshops,
school uniforms, out of hours school care, swimming clubs and fetes. Our P&C is in the very
fortunate position of being able to concentrate on working in partnership with the school to ensure
our students are receiving a quality education ­ an education that meets the needs of the students
and their home tutors.

Our P&C’s main focus is on:

• Keeping our families informed on what is happening at the school and in the broader educational
community;
• Providing a liaison role for parents and the school executive;
• Advocating on behalf of parents and students to improve educational opportunities; and
• Giving advice and recommendations to the Principal about the general operation and
management of the school.

To be able to do this effectively, we need your help. We need to hear your stories so that we can be
sure the needs of your students are being met. Join the P&C so that your voice can be heard.

11
 How you can be involved
There are many ways in which you can be
involved in the P&C without having to make a
huge commitment. We understand that
everyone is very busy and there is not much
spare time. However, there are ways in which
you can contribute without it impacting on your
lifestyle.
1. Join the P&C so you will be on our mailing
list. We send out a lot of information and it
could save you time and effort if you know
what’s going on.
2. Reply to requests for information so that we
know what changes can be made to make
things easier for you.
3. Attend a P&C meeting – simply pick up the
phone, dial the number and find out all the
latest information. We also use web
conferencing for our meetings which are a lot
of fun.
4. Consider being a parent representative so
that you can help us to understand what it is
like in your situation. We currently have many
positions available for home tutors who are
willing to help others and to represent other
home tutors on planning committees.
You can make a big difference without much
effort, so give it a try. You’ll be very glad you did.
Preferred Textbook Supplier
Symons Educational Supplies at Southport is
the preferred supplier of all textbooks and
stationery items for our school. They will be
donating 15% commission on all sales from
BSDE students to the P&C. This is one of our
major fundraising activities so if you need
textbooks or stationery items, please consider
purchasing them from Symons. You can contact
them at:
Symons Educational Supplies
127 Olympic Circuit
Southport QLD 4215
Ph: 5531 3014
Fax: 5528 0582
Email: customer.service@symons­ed.com.au
Website: www.symons­ed.com.au
New School Shirts will be
available soon!
The BSDE P&C sells school shirts as a service
to our school community. We are currently in
the process of designing a new shirt with the
new school logo and colours. Initial designs are
looking good and we are confident the new
shirts will look very smart. Watch this space for
more information so you can order your shirts
when the design is finalised.

Message Board
Governess/Home tutor
I am seeking work in 2010 as a Governess/Home Tutor in the S.E. Queensland area. I have previously worked as
a volunteer tutor at Tafe Qld with literacy and numeracy, and more recently in term 4 2009, I worked as a
Governess for a family (3 children ­ prep, year 3 and year 4) enrolled with Emerald SDE. The family have asked
me to return but unfortunately I have an eye condition that is aggravated by the extreme heat, dust and smoke in
the Springsure region. For this reason I wish to find a similar position (part or full­time) in the South East,
preferably with grades prep to 7.

I have my blue card and a current Senior First Aid Certificate. I live on the Gold Coast but would consider
anything in the S.E. Please contact me at eb@arinda.com.au if I can be of assistance to your family.

Kind regards
Elaine Birkby

Please be aware that although the newsletter is primarily distributed within the BSDE school community, any
contact details offered here by families may in some instances find their way into the hands of others. This
could result in the student becoming the recipient of unwanted or offensive messages. The intention of this
notice board is to provide for appropriate contact between BSDE students and families.

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