From the Principal

Principal's Message

Dear parents, friends and community supporters of Yarrabah School,

Over the past few years we have experienced some radical transformational changes in our small school. One of these has been the amazing redevelopment of buildings and playgrounds.

The build is now ⅕ complete. We are putting the finishing touches on completed buildings. Some of these include minor modifications for sensory and life skills learning areas and toilet areas. We have modified toilets. These are now completed to better meet the needs of students in the junior years. We have four more playgrounds and a total of six more buildings to complete. Some of these are well on the way. The result of which will be a school that is fully and purposefully built for the future.

We are very excited to be moving into our new primary building in term 4. This building will eventually be surrounded by amazing playground spaces for all our students in each section. Might I remind everyone that Yarrabah was not built in a term. There are still many things I hope to achieve in this environment and improvements to be made once we get occupancy from the builders. Our vision does not only translate to the buildings we are handed, but the learning environments we aim to develop afterwards. It’s this vision that I will share with you now and in our Explicit section of the newsletter.

A positive environment supports and scaffolds students learning. The environment requires a team effort from everyone in our community. We have a strong buy in from students and staff at Yarrabah. We also have a very supportive family and community base. I was particularly pleased with the turn out for carers week. We held a marvelous morning tea in recognition of carers. 26 people attended and it was great to see new faces, chatting and meeting one another over a cuppa and pampering from the Body Shop. We have not had the space to do this for two years, so it was lovely to gather in our new environment together, socialise and be there for each another.

The framework (R2) identifies the importance of maintaining a friendly and supportive wellbeing focus for all members of the community. This focus goes beyond the school gate and we expect all members of the Yarrabah community to maintain a healthy and supportive mindset when interacting with each other. To maintain a healthy and supportive environment we encourage feedback, be it positive or negative. Our school is renowned for its ability to listen and understand, then make adjustments for each situation.  If you have an issue that needs to be addressed, the best place to do this is with the school itself. Bring it to us directly. My leadership group are only interested in making your child’s experience at Yarrabah School the best it can be.

I would like to acknowledge the work of an Occupational Therapist that leaves the school to take up a new government created role within a secondary school. Amy Dyer has worked at Yarrabah for almost four years now, many of those in the Senior section. Amy has been a wonderful asset to our school and will be missed dearly by not only the staff and students but those that she assisted as part of her service in special education. We wish you every success in your new position Amy.

The school is now recruiting another Occupational Therapist. The position is advertised on the school website.

I have included a copy of the most recent parent survey results on our Ability section of this newsletter. These identify the positive endorsement from families in relation to our ethos and environment, parent community engagement and student cognitive engagement.