Consistent school attendance is rewarded with a big splash

The saying, ‘when you reward good behaviour you get more of it’ was the reason behind an excitement filled trip to Cairns for 21 Year 5 students from Kowanyama State School in Far North Queensland.

Accompanied by their teacher Kristy Alcroft, two other teachers and a teacher’s aide, the weekend trip was a reward for positive behaviour and achieving 91.4 per cent attendance over weeks 1-4 of Term 2.

“I know the students have worked very hard to achieve these results and they are well deserving of this reward,” Kristy said.

Their ultimate destination after the nine hour bus ride in May was the Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort where they thoroughly enjoyed all the activities the resort had to offer. They went swimming in the Sun Lagoon Pool, dodged the bucket at the SPLASH Waterpark and raced around the park on pedal karts.

The students spent a few hours at the local shopping centre on Saturday morning and went Tenpin Bowling in the evening. For some students it was their very first trip to Cairns.

“The students were exceptionally well behaved and were great role models for the Kowanyama Community,” Kristy said.

“After such a wonderful trip away, they are very much looking forward to working towards another rewards trip by coming to school every day.”

But the trip wasn’t just a reward; it proved to be a learning experience as well.

Ten year old Bianca said that the trip taught her the importance of “respect” while William and Kristal learned about “being responsible.”  Eleven year old Johneisha learned that “being responsible about your money” was important and Oshayaa said she learned about “being friendly.”

Respect for culture, for learning and for others, and taking responsibility for one’s future are important principles not just learned at Kowanyama State School it seems, but are a product of rewarding school attendance.