Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As our 151^st year of educating students at Enoggera State School comes to a close, we turn our attention to the new school year for 2023 and we hope that we will be without a delayed start due to COVID, be without floods, be without much sickness and absence from school and lastly, be without the construction noise. After a well-deserved break and time to recharge we will be back with renewed spring in our step and passion to support our wonderful students to new heights.

PRINCIPAL’S AWARD CEREMONY

On Monday at our Principal’s Award Ceremony we saw many students achieve awards for demonstrating our three school pillars of Learning, Safety and Respect, consistently across the semester. The ceremony was well received thanks to the excellent participation and behaviour of our wonderful students, attendance from a large crowd of parents and carers and the superb organisation of school staff. 

A massive congratulations to all of the award recipients, but also to all of the other students who may not have received awards, but still have done their best and achieved their personal learning goals for the year.

BREAK UP DAY and CLEAN UP DAY

Thursday will be our break up day and our classes will be partaking of a pizza party in their classes for a cost of $5 each payable in cash, as well as games and activities, including swimming for some classes.  Your classroom teachers would have communicated what is planned for the day. This is a usual school day and as such students need to be in normal school uniform. We will also do the traditional send off tunnel for the Yr 6 students tomorrow afternoon as Friday, there will be limited students at school as this will be clean up and moving day in readiness for next year. Of course, school will be open on Friday for those families who need supervision for their children to work, but all of the activities for the year will be finished on Thursday, on break up day. Friday will be a big day of teachers moving classrooms in readiness for next year. Students attending on Friday still need to wear full school uniform also as this is not free dress. A reminder that tuckshop has finished for the year so there will be no tuckshop or party food on this day so students will need their usual lunches.

2023 SCHOOL YEAR

A reminder that the school office will be open from Monday, 16th January 9-3pm and that teachers will be involved in professional development from Wednesday, 18th January through to the Friday, 20th January.  School recommences for the new school year on Monday, 23^rd January, 2023.  The Australia Day Public Holiday will break up the first week back on Thursday, 26^th January, 2023.

Parents will be able to drop off book list items to outside the tuckshop on the tables set up from Tuesday 17^th through to Friday 20^th January morning between 6:30am and 9:00am, so that they can be transported to classrooms in readiness for the first day. A reminder that booklists were sent home recently for Yr 1-6 with contact details for the suppliers, but of course you can choose to purchase the items elsewhere, if you wish.  Please ensure if items are purchased elsewhere that they are the correct items of similar quality. Prep School Resource Scheme information was also emailed to Prep families and these agreements must be returned by Friday this week to ensure ordering of the correct amounts of equipment for Prep. Invoices will be issued for payment in the new year. If you do not wish to be part of the Resource Scheme for Prep you will need to purchase all items on the list and provide them to school for the start of the year.

A reminder also when purchasing uniforms for next year that our dress code states all black shoes and white socks, so if purchasing new shoes for next year please make sure these align with the dress code. All black shoes means black shoes, soles and laces with no colours, coloured laces or white soles. A reminder that boots, high tops and basketball shoes are not acceptable school wear.

With regard to hair- our dress code states that hair should be a of a natural and style and colour for school, so this means alternative haircuts and colours are not suitable for school.

Our students look fantastic here at Enoggera State School when they wear their full uniform with pride, so I encourage parents to support this and ensure their children are able to comply with the approved dress code and are coming to school in full and correct uniform every single day.

The uniform shop will be open on the following times:

Tuesday, 17^th January, 2023 from 4pm to 6pm

Thursday, 19^th January 9am to 11am QKR collection available

Friday, 20 January 9am to 11am QKR collection available or 4pm to 6pm

The uniform shop will not be open first day of school as mentioned - it will be open Tuesday, 24^th  8am to 9am 

QKR ordering is available during the school holidays but can only be collected on Thursday, 19^th January between 9am and 11am or Friday, 20^th January between 9am and 11am.  Orders after cutoff time (Thursday 19/01) will be available for collection on Tuesday, 24^th January.

NAPLAN COMPARATIVE SCHOOL RESULTS

The recent publication of NAPLAN data saw Enoggera State School once again score highly as compared to other schools in Queensland and Australia. We are incredibly proud of the outstanding results we achieve at ESS. NAPLAN is an opportunity for us to confirm that the work we are doing is the right work. Our new school mission is, “to develop an inclusive community of innovative, lifelong learners by providing quality teaching and learning, which values positive partnerships and engages students to achieve succESS”, so we use data such as NAPLAN to assist us to monitor student progress and inform our teaching to allow every child to be successful. Our staff commitment to professional learning, and engaging in evidence-based practice based on the latest research and the strong partnerships between school and home and the high expectations of all stakeholders in our community are such a big factor too.

Our mean scale scores, which is the best judge of overall achievement is excellent, where we have scored higher than the mean scale score in Qld and Australia in every test in both Yr 3 and Yr 5, which a truly fantastic result.  Well done to our Yr 3 students and our fantastic teaching staff.

The % of students achieving in the Upper 2 Bands is also excellent with our % above Qld and Australia in every test for Yr 3 and 5 except Yr 5 Numeracy.  This is also a fantastic result as we have been focussing much of our work on moving more students into the Upper 2 Bands. The Numeracy result also aligns with what we already know which is why Mathematics and Numeracy is the focus of the last year of our Strategic Plan for 2023.  Overall, these are very exciting results to take us into the new year where NAPLAN will be held much earlier in the year mid-way into Term One.

SEMESTER 2 STUDENT REPORTS

The most useful reflection of your child’s achievement is against the Australian curriculum, as shared through semester report cards. Report cards provide both academic achievement and effort ratings, and behaviour comments. The effort rating is your first point of call as this lets you know if your child is working at capacity ie they are engaging well and being their best each day. Focussing your attention here will inform your response to their academic performance.

The academic rating is indicative of your child’s capacity to provide evidence of their performance in different subject areas for the semester. A `C’ rating means your child is achieving at year level standard as per the Australian Curriculum. As parents we are often keen to see A ratings, however it is important to remember that children are developmentally different and learn at different rates and paces. Also, students with English as their second language need more time to learn and build skills in providing evidence of their capacity. You may have to wait a few years to see their true capability.  In other words, please praise your children for what they are doing well and be curious about what support they may need in areas you are less certain about.  

The Semester Two Student Report cards are being emailed out this Thursday afternoon at 3pm to email addresses saved on One School for all students in Prep to Year 6.  If you do not receive your report card by Friday morning, please check your junk mail before calling the office to check the email address the report has been sent to.  If you have any questions about your child's report card please address these to the classroom teacher, in the first instance.

YEAR 6 GRADUATION

On Thursday will be the Year 6 Graduation, which is often both a happy and sad occasion. We celebrate this Year 6 cohort, who have been outstanding learners and great role models for our entire school. We have valued their contribution to Enoggera State School and are truly sad that the time for them to leave has arrived. Even so, we know that they leave ESS with excellent knowledge and skills to progress well in their learning and also having a deep understanding of how to enact the school pillars to help them be their best every day. Go well, Year 6. We will miss you. 

2023 STAFFING

Also, on the Principal’s Assembly we farewelled the staff leaving Enoggera State School this week. 

We farewelled two staff who have been transferred to other schools for next year as part of state-wide transfer system where staff mobility is a priority to ensure all schools across the state can be staffed adequately and equitably, Unfortunately, for us this year Mrs Wilcox and Mrs Osborne have been transferred to other schools. We thank these two ladies for all of their work here from the many students and staff they have impacted here on their journey. Mrs Wilcox has left a lasting legacy on the development of the Arts programs here and has instilled a love of dance and drama in many students over her 10 years at this school, which we are truly grateful for. Mrs Osborn has left an impression on all of the students she has taught since she has been here, which we are also thankful for. We wish them both all the best at their new schools.

We also farewelled Mrs Jardine, who has had her specialist circuit changed for 2023, who will now service only Stafford Heights SS full time. We thank her for her wonderful work she has done at ESS over the years, as her dedication to our school and especially for the work she does with Work Place Health and Safety and representative school sport is much appreciated.

We also have some temporary staff members whose contracts finish at the end of this year. Unfortunately, Ms Hopper has decided not to renew her contract for next year so we thank her for all of her hard work over the years in building up our music program. We also thank Mrs Finlayson DRT who has been on 2B this semester and has been permanently appointed to Geebung SS for next year and Mrs Voigt who has been on 3A this term for all of their work with our students and we wish them all of the best next year.  We also thank Mrs Wharton who has been a DRT also based at our school this year and who has been appointed to another school permanently for next year.

We also farewell Mrs Prill for next year as she goes off on Maternity leave for the year and also our Speech Language Pathologist Emily D’arcy who also goes on Maternity leave for next year.  We wish them all the best for the births of their new babies. We also thank Mrs Taddeo who is changing roles to a District Relieving Teacher and taking some leave next year to further her studies.

In some very recent news we are also farewelling another popular and much-loved staff member who has been at ESS for 11 years and has built himself a wonderful reputation within the ESS community and that is Mr Roxburgh.  Mr Roxburgh has decided to accept a private teaching position at Mueller College for next year and so will be leaving us at the end of the week also.  We thank him very much for his wonderful service to this school and the indelible mark he has left on all of the students he has taught and we thank him for his leadership he has shown in so many different arenas.  We wish him all the best at his new school next year and hope they appreciate him as much as we do here.

Mrs Haslam our Business Manager has accepted an acting promotional position for the first 6 months of next year, so we wish her all the best at her new school and look forward to her return in semester two.

With much regret I am also so to announce that Chappy Sarah Petchell has finally achieved her dream of being accepted as a Chaplain into the Defence Force.  She will be here after the holidays as she transitions into her new role and hopefully can handover to a new Chaplain for ESS which Scripture Union will begin recruitment for.  We wish Chappy Sarah all the best and are very sad to see her go as she has been a wonderful addition to the Chaplaincy program here at school.

We thank them all for the amazing work they have done at this school and wish them all the best at their new schools/roles or on their leave. I can now announce the Enoggera State School staff for the 2023 school year. 

Principal-Mrs Anne Robinson

Deputy Principal- Mrs Tina Burrows

Head of Department-Curriculum-Mrs Amy O’Malley

Administration Staff- Business Manager (Acting)- Mrs Ellie Mastropostolos, Administration Officer- Miss Catriona McCarthy

Teaching Staff-

Prep- Mrs Rebecca Nelson, Mrs Jacque Egerton and Mrs Shalana Rossiter 0.6/Miss Emma Enoch 0.4

Yr 1-Mrs Amanda Boon, Mrs Karen Kent, Miss Jasmine Hunt

Yr 2-Miss Tamara Dowling, Mr Richard Linn

Yr 3- Mrs Andrea Moeser, Mr Jason Taylour

Yr 4- Mrs Alison Leeson 0.5/Mrs Laura Arthur 0.5,  Mrs Belinda Harris

Yr 5/6- Mrs Jaime Hall, Mr Tom Emes, Ms Ros Kerr

Specialist Teachers and Support Staff-

STLaN (Support Teacher Literacy and Numeracy)- Mrs Donagh McKenzie

Inclusion Teacher- Mrs Belinda Paton

Guidance Officer- Mrs Deb Bowen

Health and Physical Education Teacher- Mr Andrew Woodrick

Dance and Drama Teacher- Miss Georgia

Classroom Music Teacher- Mrs Rebecca Rees

Instrumental Music Instructor – Mrs Ellen Harle

LOTE Teacher- Mrs Vicky Cho

District Relieving Teacher- Mrs Chanel Taddeo 0.2

IT Technician- Andrew Wilson

Chaplain- TBC

Permanent Teacher Aides- Penny Fitzpatrick, Sue Griffin, Jess Tucker, Shannon Green, Helena Frantz, Sally-Ann Muston (Leave for Term 1)

School's Officer- Colin Callaghan

Cleaners- Caroline Salfischberger, John Salfischberger and Robert Salfischberger

FAREWELL FAMILIES

To all of our families who are leaving us this year, I trust you take with you many happy memories and assurances your child has had a great education at Enoggera State School. Some of our families who have had a longstanding relationship with Enoggera State School will have their last child leaving Year 6 this year. Thank you for your partnership over many years and all the very best for the future.

NEW BUILDING

It was very exciting last week to go into the new building again to see all of the furniture being unloaded into the classrooms.  The building inside is looking great and in fact tomorrow we attend the new building induction meeting. The landscaping outside is coming along and will be finished by school start next year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I thank everyone for a fantastic year at Enoggera State School and look forward to seeing everyone back for another great year in 2023.  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and that if travelling you stay safe on the roads over the busy season. If you are moving on over the holidays we wish you all the best in the future.