Dear Parents and Caregivers,

BUILDING UPDATE

As expected with further rain, the current handover date for our new building now sits at November 30, with further rain delays to be approved.  We are still hopeful of handover before the end of the year though, so that we can get moved in ready for the new school year.  Our new furniture and effects arrive on November 30, so we are also hopeful they will be able to go straight into the new building even if we have not quite reached completion. They believe that it will be mostly outside works and landscaping happening by that stage.

On another note, we are soon to have some disruption to the front carpark and stop drop and go zone for about a week. This will be happening before the end of the school year as Telstra needs to change the connection entry into the school from the road pit near B Block to the next pit down in front of the main front carpark. The new lines will go under the carpark and through to the library and D Block to the new building comms room, where the new centre network for the school will be located.  As Telstra will be connecting the new lines to the pit on December 12, after school finishes this means the lines to the footpath need to be prepared and laid by the builders prior to this.  We are yet to hear when and how this will work, but wanted to give families some advance warning that there may be disruption to the usual flow of the stop drop and go area and car park on South Pine Road due to this.

MULTI-PURPOSE ROOF PROJECT

Following a 3^rd tender process being conducted for this project and the price almost doubling since the projects’ first inception to the most recent tender, it looks like the project will finally happen and we will get a roof over the courts.  With the offer of the maximum funding from the School Subsidy Scheme (SSS) and other funding available, the P&C moved on Tuesday night to go ahead with the project. We will now wait for the final DoE and Procurement funding and tender approvals and processes to be conducted and the tender to be awarded be the winning contractor.  But it certainly is an exciting and massive step forward with a project that at times I feared may not even happen due to the price rises.

STAFFING

I am pleased to announce that the recruitment process for the Dance and Drama Teacher for 2023 has been completed and that Georgia Dunstan has been offered .6 Permanency with our school for next year.  Georgia comes highly qualified and experienced as she has a Bachelor of Creative Industries from QUT majoring in Dance and Drama and she also has a Masters in Teaching.  Since graduation she has undertaken teaching contracts at North Lakes State College teaching Dance, and also at Grace Lutheran College at Rothwell teaching Dance and Drama.  She has also been operating afterschool Dance clubs which have included a Boys Hip Hop class amongst many others and has prepared Grace Lutheran College and many students for dance competitions, performances and Eisteddfods.  She also currently works outside school at a Dance studio teaching and choreographing students from tiny tots upward.  We are most excited for Georgia to join our team next year to continue to grow our Performing Arts programs in the school.

We also have an additional classroom teacher who has been transferred into Enoggera State School for 2023.  His name is Thomas Eames and he comes to us from Narangba SS where he is a very popular and well-loved teacher who is passionate about sport and camps. He has been teaching Yr 6 at his current school and comes very well-referenced. We welcome Thomas to our school.

PREP TRANSITION

We currently have 60 enrolled Preps for next year and we look forward to welcoming them to our school next week for the first of the transition mornings.  The current Preps will do a transition morning to Yr 1 with the Yr 1 teachers in the library, whilst the new Preps are allocated to draft classes and spend a morning in the Prep rooms undertaking activities.  Whilst the new Preps are busy we will be running some sessions for the parents in EPAC and then the P&C will provide morning tea for them outside the EPAC before the new Preps return from class.  The uniform shop will also be open on the morning following the session.  The parent sessions for the first transition morning will focus on the Prep curriculum and preparing them for learning whilst the second week will focus on emotionally and socially preparing them for school.  We will have some guest speakers each week to deliver these messages.

A reminder that if you have a Prep student to enrol for next year please contact the office and book an enrolment interview prior to the transition mornings.

Please feel free to pass on this information to any families who are looking at our school for 2023.

ROLL UP AFTERNOONS

Again, this year we will conduct a roll up afternoon in the last week of school for all students to hopefully meet and spend time with their new teacher and class mates in their new space for next year.  As transitions are an important step in preparing students for the new school year we place high importance on offering these opportunities to our students and hope that this process helps to relieve anxiety over the unknown of the new school year and to build some excitement about the year to come.

PRINCIPAL CONFERENCE

Recently, I was able to attend the State-wide Principal’s Conference held at South Bank.  It was a great opportunity to hear about the DoE’s new Strategic Plan for 2022-2025 titled ‘Equity and Excellence’.  It was also interesting to hear about the changes ahead particularly with the introduction of a new Qld educational region for 2023, which will be the Brisbane North area along with the Sunshine Coast South area, meaning our region will be changing. We are hearing that down the track this will also impact the school sports regions as well.

Till next time,

Mrs Anne Robinson

Principal